Housebuilder fined for 'negligent' sewage leak

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has been fined £300,000 for causing a sewage leak while constructing a new housing estate almost seven years ago.

The firm was judged to be "negligent" in regard to poorly built manholes which led to a drain bursting and flooding into a stream at Eden Gardens, Sedgefield, in September 2019.

At Newcastle Crown Court, Judge Stephen Earl said sewage had been leaking into Shotton Beck for up to a week before being discovered by environmental officers and had a "substantial effect" on the stream and animals.

The firm, which was previously warned over a similar incident, was found not guilty of pumping sewage into the beck but admitted responsibility for the leak.

An Environment Agency officer was carrying out an inspection on Shotton Beck on 17 September 2019 when he noticed sewage fungus "coating" the bottom of the stream, the judge said.

Inquiries led upstream to the site of the Eden Gardens estate where two damaged manholes were discovered, the court heard.

The damage had allowed construction debris to fall in and block the drain, resulting in the pipe bursting, the court heard.

Taylor Wimpey, who had used a sub-contractor to build the manholes, had been warned by the Environment Agency and Northumbrian Water about a similar problem in June 2019, the judge said.

Sewage was detected up to one mile (1.6km) downstream and the indication was it had been leaking for up to seven days before the discovery.

It had a "substantial affect on both the water quality and those living within it", the judge said, adding Taylor Wimpey had been "negligent".

But he said the firm had made "significant outlays" to remediate and repair the damage and it was not the housebuilder's fault the case had taken almost seven years to conclude in court.

The firm admitted being responsible for the sewage leak when it appeared at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates' Court in 2023, but prosecutors pursued a trial over the deliberate pumping of sewage.

The company denied that offence and, when it came to trial in May at the third time of scheduling, was found not guilty after the prosecution's main witness said he had not actually seen the illegal activity alleged.

As well as the £300,000 fine, Taylor Wimpey was ordered to pay £10,861.73 to cover prosecution costs and a £181 surcharge.

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Taylor Wimpey cleared of sewage spill pumping

HM Courts and Tribunals Service