This summer will see major improvement works taking place along the A22 Godstone Road in Purley.
Councillors in Kenley, Purley, Purley Oaks and Riddlesdown, Old Coulsdon and Coulsdon Town have received the following briefing directly from SES Water. Purley councillors have already provided earlier updates here and here.
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These improvement works form part of a £45m programme of investment to improve our services over the 15-year period from 2010 to 2025. This will vastly improve the resilience of the local water supply network.
As these works take place, a section of the A22 Godstone Road will be closed for a six week period - something that has been agreed with Transport for London. We’ve also engaged with London Borough of Croydon, Surrey County Council, Network Rail and M25 Connect plus.
The purpose of this briefing is to explain why this project is so vital to the local area, and how we are engaging with businesses and residents likely to be affected by the road closure to avoid disruption as much as possible.
To ensure we can meet the intensifying demand on the water supply, our current Business Plan pledges to reduce the risk of supply failures. We will achieve this by ensuring 100% of the 280,000 properties in our supply area are supplied by more than one treatment works by 2025.
Treatment works use filtration and disinfection to make water safe before it is delivered to the
community. Extra connections to treatment works ensure homes have protected access to water, with their vulnerability to service failure reduced. To achieve this, we are investing in our infrastructure to deliver this strategy. This is a really important project for the future of the water supply to Purley and the surrounding area and will mean 27,000 local properties are connected to two treatment plants, to safeguard their supply.
Protecting water supply in this way will also mean we are well placed to continue to supply 160 million litres of clean water every day, to over 745,000 people, in the face of increasingly hotter summers and subsequent growth in demand. This is extremely important for our supply area of 322 square miles, extending from Morden and South Croydon in the North to Gatwick Airport in the South; and from Cobham, Leatherhead and Dorking in the West to Edenbridge in the East.
To allow for us to undertake improvement works, a 300-metre section of the A22 Godstone Road, from the Purley Cross roundabout up to Dale Road, will be closed and on diversion for six weeks. The road closure will come into effect on Saturday 22 July 2023 and end on Sunday 3 September 2023. This has been planned to take place during the summer holidays to help minimise disruption. Our partner Clancy is undertaking the work on our behalf.
Following discussions with the relevant authorities, a decision has been made to implement a road closure on Warren Road to the east of the access to Station Approach, to allow access to the train station and industrial site. The diversion of Godstone Road could naturally lead to vehicles heading onto Warren Road to avoid a longer diverted route, and Warren Road is unsuitable to handle a significant volume of traffic seeking to divert from the A22. All other local roads will remain open for traffic to move around, as appropriate.
Traffic will be diverted through Coulsdon, Redhill, Godstone, and Whyteleafe, depending on its direction. There will be clear signage in place, both ahead of and during the road closure, to avoid any surprises or confusion. Pedestrian and cyclist access to the affected roads will be maintained at all times. Purley Train Station will remain open. Please find enclosed a route diversion map for your information. Bus diversions have been agreed with TFL. They will be clearly advertised, and further information released when available.
We have explored all possible options and unfortunately there are no suitable courses of action other than laying water mains on this site. The closure and diversions have been discussed with the relevant authorities ahead of time, and the project team will be working extended hours on site, including weekends, to ensure no delays to the programme of works. These working hours will be carefully managed throughout to mitigate any complaints.
Public engagement
We are committed to engaging with all stakeholders affected by our planned improvement project, and have already begun working closely with businesses that will be most affected by the planned improvement works. We will continue to update all our key stakeholders throughout
the lifetime of the project.
The majority of businesses in the area will be unaffected and able to continue business as usual. For those businesses that may be affected, they have already been informed of the plans. To ensure that our outreach is as comprehensive as possible, the Purley Business Improvement District, and Residents’ Associations for Purley and Woodcote, Coulsdon West, East Coulsdon, Old Coulsdon, South Godstone, and Riddlesdown have been contacted and will be made aware of any updates to the plans. We are also exploring if there are any opportunities for highways or other utilities, or their contractors, to safely use our road closure while it is in place and minimise the need for future disruption.
We will provide all local businesses with Information packs to ensure they are fully informed on the process, plans, timings, and how they will be impacted throughout the project. While the road closure is active, a bi-weekly newsletter will be circulated to anyone who signs up, to give updates on progress and those local businesses and other key stakeholders most affected. We will work with local authorities and businesses to display posters and flyers in key locations and will run targeted social media adverts to ensure the local community is aware of the plans.
We have also created a dedicated project website – https://seswater.uk.engagementhq.com/a22godstoneroad – where information on the project, news updates, and FAQs will be updated and readily available. We will also have a virtual exhibition room going live on the website in the weeks leading up to the works, which will provide further information.
We can be contacted in the following ways with questions or concerns:
• By calling on 01737 772000
• By emailing on [email protected]
• By visiting the website and completing the contact form
These details will be listed on all of the materials circulated in the local area.
