Hi,
We are thinking of buying a property in Surbiton Hill Park (very close to the roundabout with the Chiltern Drive and to the Berrylands station).
I would really appreciate if somebody could please help with answering the following questions:
1. So how smelly is it there? Is it really as bad as people write in the internet? We’ve been to the area quite a few times and it seemed lovely…
2. I know there is a bus going through Surbiton Hill Park, we’ve only been there on weekends when it is dead quiet. How noisy is the street during the week?
3. What type of people leave near there?
Thank you very much!!
Comments
Hi I did a project on the sewage works in 1996. Then The Thames water manager mentioned they were considering putting a cover over the sewage works, then, and they considered tertiary cleaning- er!
The smell I have noticed at the station, more in the hollow than the platform. I have not noticed it up hill of the 2nd roundabout. Berrylands is a lovely place to live. The variety in the gardens is super. Lovely place to cycle or run because the traffic is so light.
It does smell, have you been in the Summer? Its not called Smellylands for nothing...
Cheap jibe. And inaccurate.
The vast vast majority of Berrylands will never be affected by any smell.
The only houses that will be affected are those that are closest to the works.
These tend to be Rose Walk, and the new houses in New Malden in the England Way development.
In fact, the prevailing wind means that the mell is much more of a problem there than in Berrylands.
See map http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=new+malden&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=...
I recall that a New Malden clean air group was set up a few years ago in an attempt to get Thames Water to clean up its act. Even in these streets, the frequency will only be a few times a year.
The smell will be stronger at the adjacent Berrylands station (the extreme NE corner of Berrylands), which wrongly gives the impression to commuters that the whole area is affected, especially if they wrongly think the smell comes from the redundant filter beds alongside the station.
In recent years, Thames Water have made more of an effort to stop smells at the works, under mounting pressure, and after a legal decision went against it at Mogden. Whilst things have got better, it is up to residents to report smells when they occur, especially as there are now suggestions that Thames Water wants to massively enlarge the size of the plant to accommodate increased waste from housing developments in Sutton borough.
I can't imagine that will be too popular with locals here.
Sorry but it DOES smell in the summer, not all the time but enough to matter. I agree that not all of Berrylands is affected but the lower half of Surbiton Hill Park definitely is. Personally I would avoid that area along with the lower ends of Raeburn and Elmbridge Avenues, Chiltern Drive, The Ridings etc. There is a good reason why houses at the bottom of Surbiton Hill Park are cheaper than other roads in the area! I would say a smell of sewage for a handful of days a year is too much when for similar money you could buy a house on Alexandra Drive and be well out of the stink zone.
Personally I wouldn't risk Surby Hill Park unless it was right at the top end of the road. If you want to be sure, view houses around that area in July and August before making up your mind.
I'd be surprised if there are any flats or maisonettes around there: I assumed they were all semis.
There are loads of flats up near the Surbiton end of the road (where we used to live) and although I wasn't paying a great deal of attention I think the average price of a two-bed flat there was £275K.
I'd agree. Lots of nice conversions and PB blocks at the Surbiton end of the road / Parklands for under £300k - a fair bit cheaper than central Surbiton. The Berrylands end is all 1930s semis from £400k upwards.
Thank you very much for your posts!
And does anybody use the Berrylands station to go to Waterloo in the mornings? Are you always able to get on the train around 7.30am?
Thank you!
You should always be able to get on. Most people from Surbiton ignore that train because it stops everywhere on the way to Waterloo. I think there are only two an hour, though, so they remain relatively busy.
Berrylands is in zone 5 as well, making it cheaper than travelling from Surbiton.
Thank you!
I would imagine that this sewage works affect house prices in the area, no?
We are looking to pay 250K for a two double bedroom flat with a garden and a garage. Do you think it is a reasonable price for such property in that area?
Also, I found the following message on the Thames Whater website about the Hogsmill sewage treatment works:
Odour
Thames Water is currently investing in upgrading the works to improve odour levels.
We continually focus on improving our operational practices to reduce any unnecessary increases in odour
Odour monitors are being installed on the site.
This is to help our operatives to react quickly to any increases in odour on the site.
All of our operatives work hard to keep odour to a minimum.
Do you think it sounds promising, or is it their usual promises?
Thanks a lot! :)
The problem is that there are not many two bed flats with a garden and garage in the area. Garden OR garage is not a problem, and they should be £250k ish, but for both you my be looking at a maisonette which would be £300k+
Yes,
you might not always get a seat, but you'd definately get on.
We lived on Surbiton Hill Park for five years until last week when we moved out of the area completely.
1. Not very smelly. It's not nice when it happens but it really didn't happen that much.
2. We were right at the Surbiton end of the road so I can't vouch for the noise down by the pub. Where we lived you could only hear the trains when they tooted, and the only noise of note was the odd bunch of drunken youths or drivers going for a land speed record.
3. I think there are plenty of "normal families" living there. Certainly there were stacks of kids walking past our place from that location every morning on their way to school. We would often go for a walk around Berrylands of an evening and see not a soul. Very quiet and safe area and I'd recommend it.
I've lived up that way for five years, decided to buy end of last year and ended up moving less than 500 yards onto Parkland!
... and my fiance was VERY picky so I can vouch for how much we like it!