Southwark council has a page you can visit if you want advice on flooding. Click to visit Southwark Council's "Flood risk management" page.
Flooding from private sewers, drains and pipes
As of 1 October 2011, Thames Water became responsible for managing private sewers and lateral drains outside the boundary of an individual property or serving more than one property under 'The Transfer of Private Sewer Regulations 2011'.
The section of pipe within the property boundary remains the responsibility of the homeowner.
How to deal with flooding
If you're experiencing problems with a drain or sewer:
- Check to confirm you're responsible for the the issue before calling a drainage contractor
- You can check by asking your neighbour if they have a similar problem
- If the response is yes, it's likely the problem is in the shared section of the sewer - contact Thames Water (0800 316 9800) to address the problem
- If the response is no, it’s likely the problem is unique to your section - contact a local drain and pipe cleaning contractor (the Yellow pages is a useful source)
For more information on the transfer of private sewers, visit Thames Water website.
Local Flood Risk Management Strategy
In line with the Flood Risk Regulations 2009, we're now a Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) and help manage local flood risk from surface water, groundwater and ordinary water courses. The Southwark Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (the strategy) was developed to ensure that flooding risks are well managed in a coordinated way to balance the needs of communities, the economy and the environment.
After consultations consistent with our statement of community involvement, we officially adopted the strategy on 18 August 2015 after a decision by the Cabinet Member for Environment and the Public Realm.
Key objectives
The strategy was designed to:
- ensure a clear understanding of local flood risks, so that investment in risk management can be prioritised and implemented most effectively
- develop and maintain a community and partnership based engagement in the management of flood risk and encourage beneficiaries to invest in the management of risk where possible
- set out clear and consistent plans for risk management so that communities and businesses can make informed decisions about managing residual risks
- encourage innovative management of flood risk, taking account of the needs of communities and the environment
- promote sustainable measures to reduce flood risk and provide multiple benefits to local communities
- develop links between the local flood risk management strategy and local spatial planning
- increase environmental protection and integrate considerations into the preparation and implementation of policies and programmes that promote sustainable development
- ensure that emergency plans and responses to flood incidents are effective and that communities are able to respond properly to flood warnings
- help communities recover more quickly and effectively from flooding incidents
The strategy includes:
- clarification of the parties responsible for managing flood risks from various sources (eg the Environment Agency is responsible for flooding from the River Thames)
- definition of our roles and responsibilities as a LLFA under the Flood and Water Management Act (2010)
- details of potential sources of flood risk
- identification of areas at a higher risk of flooding - includes areas designated as Local Flood Risk Zones and Critical Drainage Areas
- details of the general approach to managing flood risk, including both a borough wide action plan and local community action plans
