Ratby Gas Leak
On Monday evening 29th January, I was alerted to 3 separate water leaks on Main Street, Ratby by my colleague Cllr Chris Boothby after he had called Severn Trent but was not happy with the result. As cabinet member for highways, I contacted our on-call highways team who gave me an emergency number for Severn Trent. I rang Severn Trent and was given a 12-hour time frame to attend and 3 separate reference numbers. Unfortunately, by the time Severn Trent arrived on the scene the water pressure had fractured the gas pipe forcing water in the gas system. As a result the next morning myself and residents of Ratby found they had no gas. It soon became clear this was a major incident with the whole of Ratby without gas. I was contacted by Council officers and appraised of the serious situation and joined officers in the village. I then worked with Highways and Cadent to put road closures in place and then attended the village hall to help and support residents. A collection point was set up in the village hall by Cadent. I liaised with officers to make sure that vulnerable residents were visited. We had a great turnout, Officers from Hinckley and Bosworth, Leicestershire County Council, Blaby District Council, Leicester Search and Rescue the St Johns Ambulance. Cadent provided Heaters, Blankets, Hotplates for cooking on Socks, Electric Blankets, and Draught Excluders to help residents cope with the cold weather. We were able to support residents visiting the village hall in need of help. Queues stretched back and some residents had to wait an hour to get the warm packs, but everyone was in good spirits. It was pleasing to see younger residents coming to collect heaters, hotplates and blankets for their elderly neighbours.
Ratby has a fantastic community spirit. Officers and volunteers then visited every house to check for vulnerable residents and make sure residents had turned off their gas supply at the meter to stop water entering their system. Volunteers also fed back to vulnerable people's addresses so that the response teams could collect and deliver heating supplies to those people identified as vulnerable. I worked between the control centre and meeting residents at the collection centre. It was a long day and credit must go to Cadent for the swift and efficient manner in which they organised lorry loads of supplies to be delivered to the collection centre. My thanks also go to the Council Officers. Leicester Search and Rescue Team, The Red Cross and the Numerous local volunteers who visited every household in freezing conditions.
The work carried on today, Wednesday 31st January with vulnerable residents being cared for food vouchers supplied and a steady stream of people collecting heating supplies from the village hall.
It became clear today the full extent of the problem that Cadent was facing. Water had contaminated 30 km of the gas pipe network. Cadent had 100 members of staff on site working at locations all around Ratby Officers from the resilience team continued to organise resident visits. The teams continued to work hard at the collection centre, it was a cold day again but residents still kept their spirits up.
I am so proud to represent my community and will be out helping again tomorrow and every day until we all have our gas working again.
Cllr Ozzy O’Shea
Ratby/Kirby Muxloe incident.
On Tuesday the 30th January 2024 I was informed of a water main burst in Ratby which then caused damage to gas pipes. Unfortunately this then resulted in the devastating consequence of water getting into the gas main. The gas supply to many properties in Ratby and Kirby Muxloe had to be isolated as soon as possible.
On Wednesday I attended the village hall in Kirby Muxloe all day helping to hand out to residents whose properties had been effected, supplies of fan heaters, hot plates, heated blankets, thermal throws and thermal socks supplied by Cadent. The supplies were to help, where possible, the residents with some form of heating and a way to cook hot food. This mammoth task was only able to be carried out because of the effective organisation carried out by staff from Blaby District Council and with further assistance from Leicestershire County Council and Leicester Search & Rescue.
A considerable amount of time was spent knocking on doors and informing households that there were these items available for collection from the village hall and many hours was spent taking heaters and other items to the properties of vulnerable residents that were unable to leave their residences - this carried on late into the night.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and again today Sunday 4th February 2024, I have been to the village hall at Kirby Muxloe, which is still being staffed by Blaby District Council, to aid residents that have not had there gas yet restored to their properties. On Saturday (3rd February 2024) night there was another water main burst in the same area in Ratby and some properties had no water for a few hours but they were endeavouring to get this fixed overnight today Sunday 4th February.
A massive thanks has to go out for the support given by Blaby District Council, Leicestershire County Council, Leicestershire Search & Rescue and of course Cadent for their quick response and provision of items to help.
Nick Chapman CC
