Friday, 24 February 2023
Memorial Service at St Mary's Church, Upchurch
Update: Southern Water Wastewater Pumped Main - Lower Halstow to Motney Hill
Southern Water wastewater pumped main
Lower Halstow to Motney Hill
Tankers running 24 hours a day were required in 2021 to transport sewerage from the wastewater pumping station at Lower Halstow to the treatment works at Motney Hill, Rainham, while Southern Water carried out temporary repairs and then ultimately replaced large sections of their wastewater pumped main pipework that crosses the marsh between their treatment works at Motney Hill, Rainham and Poot Lane, Upchurch.
Temporary compounds were established in Poot Lane while contractors worked to install approximately 900m of new pipe there before eventually returning Lower Halstow Wastewater Pumping Station to normal operations.
Another burst means more tankers
A further burst in the main, which is a pressurised sewer, has now been discovered close to the original works in Poot Lane in 2021.
To repair the pipe, Southern Water needs to empty it. They will do this by pumping the wastewater into tankers parked at Lower Halstow Pumping Station and then taking it to Motney Hill for treatment. A fleet of around 20 tankers is required.
Tankers have to run 24 hours a day during this period to make sure Southern Water can keep customers' toilets and other wastewater facilities working.
The tankers intend to wait in a layby in Raspberry Hill Lane and will only be called to the pumping station in The Street when needed, so there should be no lines of tankers waiting in Lower Halstow village. The routes the tankers will travel between Lower Halstow and Motney Hill, Rainham, are not yet known.
Southern Water hopes its contractor can repair the burst in the main over a weekend, beginning work on Saturday the 25th of February 2023 and plans to finish on the evening of Monday the 27th.
Temporary partial road closures
The Street, Lower Halstow and Poot Lane, Upchurch
A temporary partial road closure of The Street, Lower Haltow, will be in place while tankers are working at Lower Halstow Pumping Station, with access to the village maintained.
Businesses will be open as usual.
It will also be necessary to temporarily close part of Poot Lane, Upchurch, from Saturday the 25th of February 2023, with access to properties maintained.
Details of both KCC road closures can be found below or under the 'Roads' category on our Notice Board page.
Upchurch Matters
Thursday, 23 February 2023
Emergency Road Closure - The Street, Lower Halstow
Emergency Road Closure - Poot Lane, Upchurch
Changes to Opening Times at Sheppey and Sittingbourne Minor Injury Units
■ abscesses, bites, burns, scalds, cuts or wounds
■ removal of objects from ears or nose
■ emergency contraception
■ minor head injuries (with no loss of consciousness)
■ small eye injuries or objects in the eye (but not in the eyeball).
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust