Water leak makes a hole in parish's contingency fund

Friday 22 September 2023

A major water leak and a damaged roof have left the parish of St. Peter facing a bill of up to £250,000.

The Constable of St. Peter, Richard Vibert explained to parishioners at a meeting this week that funds were needed for work at Maison Le Marquand which houses 15 affordable housing units for parishioners aged 60 and over.

Having already been forced to budget £160,000 for roof repairs, the parish recently became aware of the leak when its water bill doubled.

Mr Vibert said that although there had been no outward sign of damage caused by the leak, it had been estimated that the equivalent of seven swimming pools of water had been lost over a three-month period, and that the leak was getting worse.

At a Parish Assembly meeting this week, attendees voted in favour of withdrawing an initial £60,000 from contingency funds to cover work to replace water pipes at Maison Le Marquand, which was built in 1977.

Pictured: It had been estimated that the equivalent of seven swimming pools of water had been lost over a three-month period due to the leak.

Mr Vibert said: "There was an estimate of seven swimming pools around six weeks ago, and since then it's been indicated that the leak has become 20% worse, so we needed to bring this to an assembly in order to get on with the work.

"There are no external signs of any subsidence or damage, and a surveyor who spoke at the meeting said that the area has very good drainage."

The Constable said that the initial estimate for work to replace external pipes was £60,000, but admitted that the total cost, when added to the £160,000 roof repair bill, could approach £250,000.

Work to replace the piping is expected to commence shortly, and Mr Vibert said he hoped there would be minimal disruption to residents.

The problems at Maison Le Marquand follow a case that was reported in July, when St. Peter officials revealed that the parish had been affected by a bank mis-selling scandal.

A £3.5m loan from a major UK high-street bank to build the Clos Le Ruez sheltered homes in 2011 was linked to a fixed interest rate deal that Mr Vibert subsequently estimated had cost the parish hundreds of thousands of pounds in additional interest.

The parish was looking at the possibility of mitigation over outstanding fees, he said.

Pictured top: The Constable of St. Peter, Richard Vibert.