CHAIRMAN of Chorleywood Parish Council Jane Weitzmann has said she will not resign, despite calls from some residents to quit over her handling of the flood scheme.

She has received 100 per cent support from her fellow parish councillors who have signed a letter backing her actions.

Clements Road residents, who are threatening to take Thames Water to court over the design of the £1.5 million project, have accused the chairman of deliberately splitting the community over the scheme.

The residents, led by Mr Geoff Powell, claim Mrs Weitzmann should have sanctioned an independent review of the programme to check the scheme would be effective.

They say the work will make their homes more likely to flood and they have delayed the project by threatening legal action until February at the earliest.

The hold-up has angered residents of Lower Road and Chorleywood Bottom, who say people in Clements Road are putting the programme in jeopardy.

Last week, Lower Road resident Mrs Kay Grey made an impassioned appeal to Mr Powell and his campaigners to drop their protest so that the scheme could go ahead.

Mr Powell said the rift in the community would not have arisen if the parish council had refused Thames Water permission to build on The Common.

He added: "We have no confidence in the chairman or the parish council, which has refused to support us over this issue.

"Their leadership has been ineffectual and could have helped divert a lot of unnecessary stress and worry.

"We just hope Thames Water will come clean with its proposals at the public meeting on Monday."

The water company has arranged to discuss their latest plans with residents on Monday, January 26, at the Memorial Hall, The Common, between 5pm and 8pm.

However, councillor Mrs Weitzmann indicated Thames Water was considering using hi-tech equipment to lay pipes down Clements Road instead of the cheaper, more disruptive option of tunnelling.

The water company confirmed it has weighed up the cost of legal action against how much it would cost to feed the pipes under Clements Road to The Common.It is expected to announce its findings on Monday.

Councillor Mrs Weitzmann said: "Despite what Mr Powell thinks, the parish council has been working very hard to resolve the situation.

"Thames Water has indicated it is considering this different method, which would minimise the disruption to Clements Road residents."

Vice-chairman of the parish council Dr Ken Morris branded Mr Powell's actions "disgusting and biased."

He said: "It is unthinkable Councillor Mrs Weitzmann should be asked to resign.

"Mr Powell is completely ignoring the fears of people in Chorleywood who are at risk of being flooded.

"Ever since this plan was mooted the parish council clerk Mr John Walker has been in discussion with Thames Water and we think we are close to persuading them to feed the pipes under Clements Road."

Flood victims in Valley Road, Rickmansworth, will meet council engineers in the next four weeks to discuss what can be done to solve the problem.

Five households were badly hit during the 1992 and 1997 floods costing thousands of pounds to repair the damage.

Jack and Ethel Patching spent a year-and-a-half and £70,000 repairing their house after it was devastated by water in 1992.

They feel their concerns are being overlooked in preference to residents in Chorleywood who have been promised a £1.5 million flood alleviation scheme by Thames Water.

Chairman of the Highways Partnership Committee Mr Martin Trevett said: "I am very keen to get on with the problem in Valley Road.

"The work that needs to be done there has become overshadowed and the residents feel neglected.

"I will be pressing for a meeting to be set up in the next four weeks. We need to get on with it as quick as we can."

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