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On Monday 29th January, Southern Water was greeted with a dedicated 7-hour protest from residents when the company came to Whitstable’s Umbrella Centre for a PR event, dubbed ‘Your Waste Water Matters’, which ran from 11am to 7pm.
(Full details about the company’s event are on this Kent Online link: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/…/southern-water-to-host…/ )
One of the Whitstable-based protesters, Cathy Bradley, who stood outside the hall with fellow local swimmers to protest against the company’s continued sewage dumping, said:
“The reason I protested is that I can no longer safely swim in the sea. I moved to Whitstable ten years ago for a healthier lifestyle which involved swimming in the sea most days all year round. Now I can’t be sure I won’t get poorly, we no longer see the seals at West beach and I routinely have to check that the water is safe to enter. After each rainfall there tends to be sewage discharge at West Beach or Tankerton. In fact, it was ironic that I took a break from protesting in order to swim only to be informed afterwards that there had been a sewage dump at Tankerton and at West Beach at 1.15.pm!”
Liz Foreman also went along to protest with her husband, Andy, and remained outside the Umbrella Centre from midday to 7pm with informative placards explaining the facts of the sewage scandal. Liz is one of many who have joined a payment boycott that I began in Whitstable in 2021 with three other local residents, and which received vocal support from Bob Geldof straight after.
(See: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/faversham/news/bob-geldof-tells-southern-water-to-f-off-257355/ )
Liz used her day off work to protest against Southern Water which received a record £90 million fine in 2021 for its criminal activities in unlawfully polluting our seas and waterways.
Liz said, “We spent the day meeting some great people, with local residents coming up to ask questions and make their feelings known. Most people are deeply saddened that they and their children still can’t safely swim in our sea and I was pleased to meet others, like myself, who are making their own protest by not paying their Southern Water bills. Like so many, I was disgusted to learn about the amount of raw sewage that Southern Water was pumping into the sea right where I swim, and all around our coast. I immediately notified the company that I would be withholding my bill payment to them until they rectified this. As someone who grew up in the 1970s, swimming and enjoying sea life in Whitstable, I have seen a decline in marine life too, and I care greatly about applying pressure on Southern Water to stop polluting our sea.”
Due to work and personal commitments I was unable to join the protests on Monday, but I was pleased to help with information and some coordination for the day and I continue to campaign against sewage dumping and have now withheld payment for the wastewater portion of my bills since October 2021. Since that time, thousands of people all over the country have joined this payment boycott. Well over 5,000 people have now visited our website – www.boycottwaterbills.com – and from correspondence received we now know there is boycott action in all of the 11 wastewater company areas.
Regulation has failed to bring about the necessary investment in infrastructure that should have been financed by the water companies themselves and we, the customers will not pay twice for that investment – though the companies say we should – and the government shamefully agrees. The whole experience of privatisation has proved to be a toxic failure. Ours is the only country in the world to have a fully privatised water industry and it’s now a national and international disgrace. We will not to pay for a service we are still failing to receive. Renationalisation appears to be the only way forward – not customer PR events.
Thank you to all who gave up their day on Monday to protest against Southern Water. Feel free to go to our website for more information – and advice on how to take action by withholding payment for a service we are clearly not receiving.
(Click on images to enlarge)
ABOUT:
Julie Wassmer is a Whitstable-based author, TV writer and environmental campaigner.
She has successfully fought a number of environmental issues, including fracking in Kent and tree clearances by Network Rail. Her Whitstable Pearl crime novels are now a major TV series, starring Kerry Godliman.
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not sure if you saw this case on bbc news Exmouth sea swimmer sues water firm over sewage spills https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-68159097
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