Lordshill: Compass Point sewage pipe leaks for 4 days

Compass Point on Romsey Road has been under heavy criticism - with Satvir Kaur MP branded the block as “wholly unacceptable” in the House of Commons.

As previously reported in the Echo, residents have said owner BMR Compass ‘did not reply’ to emails raising problems and that ‘nobody has accountability.’

READ MORE: Compass Point: Southampton residents living in 'absolute squalor'

But woes continued after a waste pipe was knocked by a van on Friday November 29, sending sewage trickling out into the flat’s car park and communal area.

“The sewage was literally pouring into the street, literally at the main entrance,” said Sydney Hendrickx.

“After a day or so, there was just a pile of sewage there. I don’t remember much about the smell, I think at that point I just accepted living in ignorance.”

The sewage pipe leaked straight into the car park and communal area. (Image: Submitted) Residents had no choice but to email BMR Compass because staff are still yet to employ a new management company after KMP Solutions left the project on November 16.

BMR Compass told the Echo on November 21 that a new management company would be named within 10 days.

This was after 15 of those living at Compass Point were finally given an answer on December 6.

Primanage Ltd has been appointed as management though they were not in charge of the building when the pipe was leaking.

Despite Sydney’s attempt to immediately email the owners, she received an auto reply saying that the inbox was full.

Councillor Sally Goodfellow also got involved, calling the situation “one thing after another for residents”.

Cllr Goodfellow and Sydney emailed BMR Compass on Friday night but received no reply.

READ MORE: MP set to meet with owner of Southampton 'squalor' flat block

Nobody attended to fix the pipe until the morning of Monday, December 2.

BMR Compass sent plumbers to repair the pipe on Monday and a cleaning firm addressed the waste to ensure the area was fully cleared on the same day.

The Echo understands residents were eventually told the cause of the problem was a van crashing into the pipes.

“While waiting for a new management company, residents had to wait all weekend for someone to come out to repair a damaged waste pipe,” Cllr Goodfellow said.

“It’s just outrageous.”

Resident Sydney Hendrickx previously told the Echo that 'nobody cares' about the residents of Compass Point. (Image: Newsquest) Sydney paid £210,000 for a ground floor two-bedroom flat.

She has been chasing BMR Compass with a list of grievances from residents for months, after they banded together to form a WhatsApp group chat.

Sydney said: “We’ve almost gone numb to the problems at this point.

“I was on my way home from work on Friday when the pipes bust, and I just never know what I’m coming home to. It’s just like another day, because who cares?

“Or somebody drives by and dumps all their rubbish, fly-tipping, because they know Compass Point is a free for all.”

A big puddle of sewage could be seen underneath the pipe. (Image: Submitted) The pipe was only trickling at first but Sydney said it spewed out larger volumes whenever someone across the 241 flats flushed their toilet.

She could not let her two-year-old son out into the car park to play, but she admitted that she cannot let him go outside at Compass Point anyway.

“There’s broken glass, rusty street signs anywhere,” she said.

“There’s no lights and it gets so dark so early now. You add raw sewage to the mix and we’re just constantly carrying him to and from the car.”

The burst pipe was directly underneath the entrance to the car park, meaning vehicles had to drive through whenever they wanted to enter or exit.

Residents moved a bin to block the entrance to the car park. (Image: Submitted) Residents eventually moved a bin in front of the entrance to prevent tyres from spreading the sewage across the grounds of the communal area.

But because the situation was so bad, binmen refused to go near the leaking pipe, therefore meaning the flat missed a week of waste collection.

BMR Compass arranged for a private bin removal on December 4.

Binmen refused to collect the waste due to the sewage in the car park. (Image: Submitted) The Echo understands that officials from Southampton City Council’s waste team have told residents that for the 200-plus flats at Compass Point, the development should have at least 22 bins.

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Compass Point only has eight - there is one bin for every 30 households.

Compass Point only has eight bins - the Echo understands that officials say a development of this size should have 22. (Image: Submitted) Waste officials say they told BMR Compass when converting the flats that they would need to pay for extra bins.

But Cllr Goodfellow said that the council’s waste team has been unable to find any official responsible to authorise payment for additional waste storage.

“I will continue to campaign for my residents here until every thing is to the standard excepted,” the ward member said.

Southampton City Council’s environment health team attended on Monday and stayed until the final drops of sewage had been cleaned up.

Councillor Eamonn Keogh, Cabinet Member for Environment & Transport, said:  “The Environmental Health team visited Compass Point on Monday, following notification of the incident.

"Regarding the bins, it is evident that the number of bins is inadequate for the total number of flats occupied.

"The management of waste disposal within the development remains a concern and despite multiple attempts to engage with the managing agents to address the issue, the lack of cooperation has hindered progress.

"We have been emptying the bins; however we need to reach a conclusion and strongly urge the managing agents to engage with our requests as it is essential that a long-term solution is found.”

BMR Compass said that they have been making progress since the Echo's original report, including testing and repairing the outside lampposts, securing loose lamps on the side of the building, and addressing other concerns raised by residents.

The company says they have also "engaged a car park management company to monitor the site" and been in contact with the council to arrange fore more bins in the area.

They have also installed a CCTV camera in the bin store.

Bernard Margulies from BMR Compass said: "The actions provide a brief overview of the work that has been completed over the last 10 days.

"We remain committed to ensuring that the property is maintained to the highest standards, and we are confident that with the new management in place and my team focused on this project, we will meet the expectations of both leaseholders and tenants."