Concern after Golden Lane Estate flooded by sewage

The issue was first raised with the site's freeholder, the City of London Corporation, on 21 May

Sewage has flooded parts of the Grade-II listed Golden Lane Estate twice in the past few weeks.

The Golden Lane Estate Residents’ Association is calling for answers from the City of London Corporation (CLC), given that "raw sewage is a major health hazard".

Several staff members at The Shakespeare pub fell ill around the time the flooding first happened, according to a councillor, although this has not been definitively linked to the sewage.

The CLC apologised to residents and said contractors "had been on site to rectify the issue and clear the blockage".

The estate is close to The Shakespeare pub, a popular destination for people visiting the Barbican Centre

The issue was first raised with the CLC, the site’s freeholder, on 21 May.

In a housing management and almshouses sub-committee meeting on 3 June, councillor Ceri Wilkins, who lives on the estate, asked why it took her intervention before anything was done.

She said a letter distributed by the CLC on 31 May appeared to blame the issue on residents, claiming the flooding was due to the presence of wet wipes.

The blocking of the drains for a second time last weekend showed that the issue was actually one of inadequate maintenance, Ms Wilkins said.

She said: “I just want to ask, basically, what has been done, what is going to be done, and how we can ensure that actually the correct maintenance is done to our estate?

"We have a lot of young people who play on our estate. They have no idea that that can be a huge danger to them."

A CLC spokesperson said: “Two incidents occurred in the Golden Lane Estate car park where drains became blocked and overflowed.

"This was due to pumps which would usually be pumping sewage away from the site malfunctioning.

“Contractors have been on site to rectify the issue and clear the blockage. They will also carry out a deep clean to the pub cellars."