Residents at Northampton holiday park told they cannot return home for weeks due to flood damage

Residents who were forced to flee a flooded holiday park in Northampton are not allowed to return home for a ‘number of weeks’ due to damage at the site.

Billing Aquadrome was heavily flooded in the first week of the New Year, forcing hundreds of holidaymakers and residents to flee the site.

On Thursday (January 25), many residents were told they could return as normal on February 1, however, an unknown amount of residents have also been told they cannot return due to damage caused to their properties.

In a recent letter, park administrators shared an update on flood-related damages, saying: "Our on-site team and contractors are working hard to clear up after the flood and carry out essential repairs to ensure the site's safe reopening.

“Unfortunately, your caravan has been identified as one where license holders cannot return on February 1."

According to the administrators, ‘substantial earthwork is required to replace approximately seven electrical cables and most electricity meters in certain areas’.

The administrators stressed the urgency of the repairs, saying: "Our contractors have been on-site ever since, but completing works of this scale will take some time. We do not know when the works will be completed and all locations reconnected...but it is likely to take a number of weeks."

Acknowledging the frustration, they said: "Health and safety remain our top priority. Everyone is doing everything possible to complete the necessary remedial work so that you can return safely." The administrators also mentioned ongoing efforts to explore temporary power solutions for affected caravans.

Regarding pitch fees, they said: "Fees for the period you cannot be on the park from February 1 will be returned, or a reduced amount can be paid should it still remain outstanding."

Residents and holidaymakers had to leave the site on January 6 until February 1 as ‘required under the licencing agreement with the local authority to operate as a holiday park’, with many staying in hotels or even going abroad during this time.

One affected resident said: “There is very little in the way of telling us we will be reimbursed, not much in the way of help to find alternative accommodation or whether they could open up the holiday lets and allow people into them.

"As acting owners, I feel like they have some sort of social responsibility. There are a lot of people flying back into the country [returning to Billing], a lot of people with little disposable income, a lot of people who have just paid thousands of pounds on site fees and then not able to return.

"I think this could be a social services issue for those with children who cannot afford to go and find alternative accommodation. I think there should be provisions put in place by the administrators to help those who are not able to find alternative accommodation, really.

"Also, I’m pretty sure they would have known all this more than six days before we are due back on site. Is it one week, two weeks, three weeks, seven weeks? There’s a lot to think about.”