Grahame Park, Barnet – Water Ingress

    21 June 2024

    Media contacts

    Stephanie van Rosse

    mail [email protected]

    Telephone0776 733 7343

    Update 5 – Sunday 23/06/2023 – 15:00

    Great news!  Everyone is back on gas, if they have been home when we visited.

    Every property has been visited at least once. We will continue to visit each of the properties still without gas today. The numbers are small, as long as people are in, we will get them back on gas today.

    Tomorrow, we will send letters to all affected properties explaining how compensation is paid, for not being able to supply gas to your property. You do not need to claim for compensation, it is automatically paid to you through your gas supplier, (The company at the top of your energy bill.).

    Compensation explained below.

    *Will I get compensation for being without gas?

    Yes. Cadent has a statutory obligation to pay compensation to anyone who is without gas for more than 24hrs after the first complete 24hr period.

    We are currently still restoring gas supplies but once this is incident is over, we will notify your gas supplier (the company whose name is at the top of your gas bill). Cadent must pay the compensation payments to the gas suppliers within 20 working days after the incident has been closed. This payment will then be passed on to you by your gas supplier.

    Everyone who lost gas will receive a letter regarding compensation for loss of gas. Householders are entitled to £70 for every 24 hours they were off gas while businesses will receive £120 per 24 hours off gas. This will be paid directly to them via their gas suppliers.

    *Do I need to claim for compensation?

    No. Compensation for the loss of your gas supply will be paid automatically to your gas supplier whose name will be at the top of your gas bill.Your gas supplier will then pass this on to you.

    *When will I get my compensation?

    Cadent must pay the compensation payments to the gas suppliers within 10 working days after the closure of the incident.

    *How will my gas supplier pass on this compensation payment?

    This will depend upon your gas supplier. Some may take it off your gas bill; others may send you a cheque. You will need to contact them for this information.

    *How much will I receive?

    This will depend upon how long you were without gas. Your entitlement is above.

    *How does Cadent calculate how much compensation each property will receive?

    Compensation is due for each full 24-hour period you were without gas for, so the start point will be the same for everyone. The clock stops when we were able to restore your supply to your gas meter. If we were unable to access your property, we will still use this time. We keep a record of both gas off and gas on times to calculate how long you have been without gas.

    Example only (not in relation to your gas interruption) 

    Monday at 10am gas supply was turned off. Wednesday at 5pm gas is available. Total hours off gas 55 hrs (2 x 24 hours @ £70) = £140 compensation.

    *Will I get compensation for low gas pressure?

    If we have had to switch off your supply because of low gas pressure, you will be entitled to compensation for your loss of supply.

    Update 4 – Saturday 22/06/2023 – 22:00

    We are pleased to say that we have restored gas to the majority of affected properties in the Grahame Park area of Barnet. There are some properties we have visited and we have not been able to gain access to the property to complete the safety checks.

    We stopped knocking on doors at 10pm this evening but we will be back at 8am tomorrow morning, to continue the work to restore gas to the remaining properties.

    We will visit each property at least three times. After that, we will leave a card and ask people to contact us when they are home. We will then send an engineer to the property and complete the safety checks and turn the gas back on.

    If people are home tomorrow, we should be able to have everyone back on gas again.

    Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.

    Update 3 – Saturday 22/06/2023 – 12:30

    Gas supplies to Lancaster Close and properties south of this area were put back on gas last night.  This is around a third of properties.

    We have continued to pump water out of our gas pipes.  We hope to have more than half of properties back on gas by around 2pm this afternoon.

    We are working hard to get everyone back on gas today but that relies on two things.  

    1. We have managed to pump water out of our gas pipes and 

    2. that people are in when we come to do the safety checks to turn supplies back on.

    If people need extra support, please visit us at our welfare unit on Wiggins Mead.

    If we aren’t able to safely switch your gas supply back on today, we will return tomorrow and make sure everyone is back on gas before we leave.

    (We visit each property around three times to try to turn the gas supply back on safely.  If people are not at home, on holiday.  We will leave a card to ask them to call us when they are back at home and we will then send an engineer to turn of the gas.)


    Update 2 – 21/06/2024 – 18:20

    In the next two hours we will start restoring gas to a small part of the network and we hope to start switching gas supplies on to a few properties.

    Please do not try to turn your own gas supply back on.  There are still parts of our gas network that has water in it.  We are continuing to pump the water from our gas pipes.  We can not turn all gas supplies back on until all the water has been removed.

    The customer centre at St Augustine's Church, Great Field, Barnet NW9 5SY, will be closing down at 7pm this evening.

    If you need help over the weekend, please go to our welfare unit on Wiggins Mead.

    If any customer needs additional help and support, please call us on 0808 178 8078. (This number is not available at the weekend. Please visit us at Wiggins Mead. If urgent and you smell gas, call the gas emergency number on 0800 111 999.)

    We will update this page again in the morning.

    ENDS

    Gas emergency service Cadent, were called on Wednesday night (19/06/2024) to reports that some properties had no gas or poor gas pressures in the Grahame Park Estate area of Barnet.

    Emergency engineers have been on site throughout the night and day to investigate the cause and the extent of the affected area.

    Work continues today to restore gas supplies and we are now working with Affinity Water in the area too.

    We are working to restore the gas supply to impacted properties, as quickly and safely as possible.

    Please do not try to turn off or on your gas supply. Our engineers have to visit every impacted property to ensure the gas supply is switched off safely first.

    Once we have gas back into the gas pipe network, we will have to revisit each property to complete the safety checks, ensure water has not entered the pipes and then safely test and switch back on to each gas appliance. Please do not try to do this yourself.

    Please check ID cards before allowing anyone into your property.

    If you are without gas and need additional support, please speak to one of our engineers on site or call us on 0808 178 8078.

    We have now set up a customer centre at the following address: St Augustine's Church, Great Field, Barnet NW9 5SY. The customer centre will be open from 1:30pm today.

    Should we need to open the customer centre over the weekend, we will update this page.

    Streets impacted include:

    • Lancaster Close (numbers 1-43)
    • Corner Mead (Numbers 50-80)
    • Corner Mead
    • Edgecombe Avenue
    • Rowan Avenue
    • Ferrie Close
    • Wardell Close
    • Rivington Crescent
    • University Close
    • Graham Park Way – some properties, not all of the street is impacted

    Block of flats

    • Cranwell Court (Flats 1-26)
    • Vellore
    • Valkyrie
    • Valentine
    • Wallace
    • Warneford
    • Wellington

    Cadent

    Cadent is the UK’s largest gas distribution network with a 200-year legacy. We are in a unique position to build on strong foundations whilst encouraging the curiosity to think differently and the courage to embrace change. Day to day we continue to operate, maintain and innovate the UK’s largest gas network, transporting gas safely and protecting people in an emergency. Our skilled engineers and specialists remain committed to the communities we serve, working day and night to ensure gas reaches 11 million homes from Cumbria to North London and the Welsh Borders to East Anglia, to keep your energy flowing.

    Future of Gas:

    Here at Cadent we support the Government’s plans to reach Net Zero by 2050. That means we’re backing the introduction of hydrogen as a low carbon alternative to natural gas for the future. We know people love the controllability of gas and, with our network already in place, it makes sense to switch to the lower carbon alternative offered by hydrogen, which we believe can keep homes and businesses warm for generations to come.

    Cadent manages the national gas emergency service free phone line on behalf of the gas industry - 0800 111 999*

    Cadent Gas Ltd is owned by a consortium of global investors.

    *All calls are recorded and may be monitored.

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