RESIDENTS of a Whitchurch street have been told they are to pay Shropshire Council £56,000 per house for connecting it to the local sewer.

Residents of The Brambles, off Chester Road, were left without working sewers when developers Sherwoods Homes finished work on the site with it still unconnected to the nearest pumping station.

This began a long-term battle for residents to get connected, leaving many with sewage appearing in their gardens, toilets and showers.

Shropshire Council was cleared of any liability for the lack of sewers in 2022, has now undertaken the work through a building company.

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But now residents have been hit with a bill totalling £56,000 per household for the work as Shropshire Council reiterated its position that it was not responsible for the works, blaming ‘poor conveyancing’.

“We worked with The Brambles residents to procure a competent contractor to undertake the works,” said the spokesman.

“We provided the residents with regular updates throughout the process including regarding the scope and costs of the works required following necessary site investigations.  

“The residents’ position was that they did not wish to arrange the works themselves, and the council was clear throughout that we would only do so on the basis that the costs were recovered from the residents.  

“The council therefore undertook the works in default of the planning enforcement notice with the aim of bringing the drainage up to a standard that can be adopted by the water company to give the residents a legal and maintained drainage system.

“The council’s position has not changed.

“The residents are required to pay for their share of the costs and we have given the residents the option of paying by instalments if they need to.

“The council will have to put a charge on any property where the owner refuses to pay their share.

“The lesson in this case is “buyer beware”.

“A property purchase can be the most financially significant decision many of us make and we would encourage home buyers to ensure that the right due diligence is undertaken when considering buying a property.”

A Brambles resident, who did not want to be named, said the bill has left them in shock.

“It’s devastated us,” said the resident.

“One resident, whose children were ill because of the sewage coming back into he garden, is panicking because if he doesn’t pay up, Shropshire Council will own his house.

“They will charge him extra if he doesn’t pay up too.

“We haven’t had a meeting as a group since we got the bill because nobody can agree, and people have fallen out.

“One property wants to take Shropshire Council to court, some houses have got divorced because of the situation, and some are happy to stay in the street.

“Some houses have been sold but some have tried to sell and have had to take it off the market because of this.

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“A few want to stay but they’re going to have to pay the instalments if they want to.

“I’m just gutted – I’ve done my time in life and the job I did allowed me to pay for this house and I feel like I have been stitched up.

“We feel like we’re running out of avenues to go down – we feel let down and intimidated.”