CONTRACTORS brought in by Thurrock Council have spent the past few days clearing overgrown areas on a controversial site in Stanford-le-Hope next to a tributary to the Thames that has previously flooded.

The work could be a precursor to the council delivering demands on landowners in the town to do the same as they seek to ensure drainage of land in the town is improved.

The council has recently written to home and landowners alongside the Hope tributary that runs through Stanford and meets the Thames at Mucking Creek, saying they have a responsibility to ensure the waterway is free-flowing.

The council says under Riparian laws, a set of rules that govern the rights and responsibilities of landowners who own property next to a body of water, everyone whose property touches a waterway has a responsibility to maintain it.,

After previous flooding events in the town, the council says it has a duty to ensure the problem is not repeated.

As a significant landowner in the area itself, having bought the former Daybreak Windows site in the town as part of its plans to create a rail and road interchange around Stanford station, the council has taken the decision to clear the site that has become overgrown and derelict after the council demolished buildings on the site a couple of years ago.

The Daybreak site was supposed to be part of the station regeneration plans and was purchased by the council at a cost of more than £4 million.

The station plans have fallen way behind schedule and speculation is rife that the council now plans to dispose of ownership of the land, possibly to housing developers.

On Monday (10 February) the council approved the start of work by contractors to perform site clearance and improvement of the site, including removal of Japanese Knotweed.

The works are expected to take a few weeks to conclude and will include clearance of the Mucking Creek to maintain the flow of water along the waterway.

Thurrock Council is the Lead Local Flooding Authority (LLFA) with responsibility for managing the tributary all the way through to Mucking Creek.

It has written to property owners in the area close to the waterway, saying they have to contribute to the cost of maintaining flood prevention.

Thurock Nub News understands the cost of remedial works currently underway on the former Daybreak site will cost most than £100,000.