Good afternoon

I just wanted to let you know that we met with representatives from Newcastle City Council to discuss the reinstatement of the wall in the back lane. As you know, we have added some ballast bags into the river to temporarily support the back lane and protect our assets which are underground in that location.

We will be moving into a design phase before the wall can be reconstructed and this will be done in conjunction with all interested parties.

I will continue to provide updates as this next phase of our work continues.

To update you on a couple of other issues - we had our sewerage crews out yesterday as we had received reports of odour in the back lane. Our sewer was CCTV'd and found to be running clear. We also received reports of an oil slick in the river - The Environment Agency attended site and traced the source of the oil to a third party in the vicinity.

Thanks

Rachel

Good afternoon

Chris Cowley has asked me to let you know that he is working through all your emails and contacts as quickly as possible and he will be back in touch with you as soon as he can.

Thank you for your patience.

Rachel

Hi everyone

Just to let you know that Chris Cowley will be writing to you all over the next day or so.

I've been out on site today and was pleased to see that the back lane is looking much less muddy.

Discussions are still on-going about reinstating the wall - I'll provide an update when there is some news to share.

In terms of the actual burst, we are not going to do a repair, we are going to do a diversion so the section of pipe which has burst twice will no longer be in service.

If you have any queries, please get in touch.

Kind regards

Rachel

Hi everyone

Just to let you know the project team from Northumbrian Water will be on site in the morning (Wednesday) between 9 and 10.30. Please catch one of us if you have any queries.

Please get in touch if I can help in any way.

Thanks

Rachel

Good afternoon

Just a quick update to let you know that we will continue to work over the weekend so you may notice our teams out and about. Work is progressing well to repair the burst pipe and we will also be doing some further work in the back lane to secure the collapsed wall.

Thanks again for your patience and support - it really is appreciated!

Please let me know if there is anything I can help you with.

Kind regards

Rachel

Hi everyone

As I mentioned yesterday - we have sent a letter out today and I've enclosed a copy below. Please get in touch if I can help with anything.

Thanks

Rachel

Our Ref: Killingworth Road

14 August 2020

Dear Customer

Burst Water Main - Killingworth Road

Firstly I would like to apologise formally, on behalf of Northumbrian Water, for the disruption and inconvenience caused by the two recent flooding events you have experienced.

It is always regretted when incidents like this occur and to have it happen twice in quick succession is particularly difficult to deal with.  As you know, we have reacted to both incidents very quickly and have had both our water main repair crews and our incident recovery company, DryRight, on site dealing with the repairs and clean-up etc.  We appreciate that putting things right quickly when they go wrong is important and we are working really hard to do this, as well as to fully understand what has happened.

You should already be aware that our representative, Chris Cowley, from Sedgwicks  has also been on site to discuss any issues and claims you may have.  I hope that between DryRight and Chris they have addressed all of your concerns, but I would invite you to contact me directly - or go back to Chris - if there are any outstanding questions or concerns; we want to ensure we can address them fully and share information that gives reassurance.

We have strict liability for any damage caused as a direct result of the flood and are responsible for compensating for this damage either in the form of remedial work or financial recompense. I understand that this may have already been explained to you but thought it would be helpful for you to have this confirmed officially, in writing, from Northumbrian Water.   

With regard to any claim, you have the option of claiming from your own property or vehicle insurer or making a claim directly to Northumbrian Water. The choice is entirely yours to make but if you decide to go via your own insurers we will deal directly with them and also be responsible for any excesses that you have on the policies.  

Whilst the damage to the properties in the area was thankfully relatively small, that cannot be said for the back lane and retaining wall that backs onto the river. The repair work needed is quite major and our specialist team will be looking at the options for that in the coming days. 

Our first priority for the moment is to prevent any further damage to the back lane area by opening up the flow down the river and installing a temporary structure to direct any flows away from the damaged area.  This work is currently under way and should be completed in the next few days.  Again, we have a specialist team managing this to ensure it is done in the best and most effective way.

Going forward, my team (via Chris Cowley) will be dealing with the many issues regarding claims.  We acknowledge that there may also be further queries about wider points and the remedial works we are completing, so we have appointed a dedicated point of contact and we have also set up a community portal where we will share information. This can be accessed by the following link https://nwlcommunityportal.co.uk/Projects and then follow the Killingworth Road burst main project. Rachel Nelson, our Lead Customer Care Manager, will be your point of contact for non-insurance related matters; Rachel can be reached on 07710 801976 or by email, rachel.nelson@nwl.co.uk

Once again, I am sorry that this problem occurred and please be assured that we will work as quickly as we can to get things back to normal.

Yours faithfully

George Arnott

George Arnott

Insurance Claims Manager

Hi everyone

It was lovely to meet some of you today in what are undoubtedly challenging circumstances for you. I wanted to say a big thank you for your patience and understanding over the last few days - there is certainly a great spirit in your community!

We will be writing to everyone tomorrow to give you an update about the insurance aspect of the flooding and let you know what the next steps are in terms of reinstating the back lane. I'll post a copy of the letter on this portal for your reference.

Thanks

Rachel