Allington Nursery 'might not survive' Storm Conall flood

Steve Goodridge, 67, has been at Allington Nursery and Garden Centre on Allington Lane for the last 42 years, inheriting it from his family.

After torrential rain on Tuesday night, water was diverted through his nursery, leaving sediment in the sheds storing plants and covering his newly-opened coffee shop in heaps of mud.

The flooding forced the business to close for three days, and Daisy’s Coffee Shop inside the centre is still yet to reopen due to the mess, having only opened five months ago.

Flooding at the site of roadworks at Allington Lane. (Image: Steve Goodridge) Steve told the Echo: “When we flooded on Tuesday, my wife burst into tears and said this is our livelihood going down the drain.

“She has been staying with her mother since Wednesday, she doesn’t want to be here.”

READ MORE: Free parking set to be scrapped at car parks - with evening charges added

Steve says he believes the flooding was caused by Southern Water roadworks, which is currently connecting the main sewer to the housing development at One Horton Heath.

The garden centre owner believes pipes left in a water gully diverted the path of rain running down Allington Lane, bringing mud straight through his property’s front doors.

Steve believes that Southern Water placed pipes in a water gully outside Allington Nursery. (Image: Steve Goodridge) Roadworks on the lane are also blocking access to the nursery in one direction, and as customers are not able to visit easily, Steve has taken just £10.98 this week.

The nursery owner told the Echo that he relies on the sale of Christmas trees and fireworks to get the business through the winter.

But with 600 fir trees in stock and nobody to buy them, Steve believes he has lost out on at least £2,000-£3,000 this week alone.

Steve said: “It’s one of the busiest times of the year. We had a gentleman drive up from Devon today, an owner of a hotel, but he couldn’t get through because of the works.

The floors at Allington Nursery were covered in water and mud. (Image: Steve Goodridge) “The public are pouring in our car park and using it as a turning point because nobody knows where to go as the signposting for the roadworks is so bad.”

Steve said he is “sick to death” with all of the roadworks over the last few years.

'The really thin end of a really big wedge'

West End & Horton Heath ward member Steven Broomfield told the Echo that Allington Nursery has had the “really thin end of a really big wedge” over the last couple of years.

READ MORE: Work begins on first of nearly 3,000 homes at One Horton Heath

He said: “I visited on Monday and they suggested to me that their fireworks in an average year will make up for the 60 per cent of their annual turnover.

“There have been posts all over Facebook where people are asking where they can get their Christmas trees because they can’t get to Allington Nursery.

How Allington Nursery usually looks, before any of the flooding. (Image: Steve Goodridge) “I can only hope that there will be an end to it and things go to normal, but we know it won’t, because they are looking to upgrade the junction between Allington Lane and Sandy Lane next Spring.

“I’m no structural engineer, but even I can see that that won’t be a short term job."

Steve said that the authorities behind all of the roadworks have run 'roughshod' over local businesses, saying that they 'don't care' about local businesses.

A Southern Water spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear of the flooding which has impacted this customer following intense recent rainfall. Our teams are investigating these reports to establish the full circumstances.”

Planned maintenance is scheduled to continue until December 10 as Southern Water connect a manhole to the sewer network.