‘I’M TAKING THIS ALL THE WAY!’ SAYS WATER BILLS BOYCOTTER AT PROTEST RALLY AHEAD OF COURT SHOWDOWN WITH SOUTHERN WATER
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Campaigners for the boycott of water bills gathered in Margate on Thursday 19 March for a protest ahead of longtime boycotter Julie Wassmer’s court showdown against Southern Water.
Supporters came from all part of Kent including Whitstable, Broadstairs, Deal, Folkestone as well as from Sussex, London and Oxford, united by their condemnation at the dire state of the water industry.
Crime writer and environmental campaigner Julie, who has withheld payment for the wastewater part of her bill for over four years, gave an impassioned speech arguing that the state of water is both a national and an international disgrace.
She said she intends to argue in court next week that regulation has failed, there is no accountability for poor service and that this, in principle, contravenes Article 6 of the Human Rights Act.
‘It cannot be right that in a modern civic society consumers are forced to pay for services which are not being provided at all, or which seriously pollute our seas and waterways and damage our precious environment – while denying us a means of challenging this effectively through the legal system.’
She added: ‘I’d like to see the back of every water company CEO in this country for whom, by the way, the average pay is £1.7million a year – while OUR bills have gone up 40% in real terms since privatization and are set to increase far more.’
Katy Colley, Rob Yates, Julie Wassmer, Johnbosco Nwogbo, Olivia Cavanagh, Andy Harvey
Johnbosco Nwogbo, lead campaigner at We Own It, an organization that campaigns for public ownership of public services, queried what it was Southern Water wanted Julie to pay for.
‘Southern Water dumped sewage for about 304,000 hours in our rivers and seas in 2024,’ he said. ‘Is that what they’re asking Julie to pay for, so they can continue to dump sewage in our rivers and seas? They paid out £2.3 billion in dividends to their shareholders since the water company was privatized – it that what they’re asking Julie to pay for?’
He pointed out that when Southern Water was sold in 1989 it had no debt, but it has since been loaded with £5.7 billion of debt, money which has clearly not been invested in infrastructure, but paid out in dividends to shareholders.
‘Instead of people like Julie finding themselves in court defending themselves, Southern Water should find itself in court!’ he said.
He pointed out that there is currently a proposal in front of the Environment Secretary to try to ‘save’ failing Thames Water from bankruptcy, a deal that would allow the company to pollute illegally until 2040. He insisted this deal must be rejected and Thames must be taken back into public ownership, to prevent fellow water companies following suit in a race to the bottom: ‘Or rather, a race to the sewer!’
Two Green Party councillors from Kent spoke at the event, Rob Yates and Andy Harvey.
Margate Councillor Yates said he had personally investigated Southern Water by submitting Freedom of Information requests that revealed the number of times the company had breached its permits by pouring untreated sewage into the seas, the results of which formed part of a criminal case against Southern Water.
He added: ‘Privatisation without competition is exploitation. England and Wales are the only country in the world with a fully privatized water industry – now is the time to reverse Thatcherism.’
Dirty Business
Katy Colley, who co-founded boycottwaterbills.com with Julie Wassmer, said that since the screening of Dirty Business, the C4 three-part drama about the sewage scandal, the website had seen a surge in new signups.
She quoted submissions from a host of new boycotters from all over the country whose water companies included United Utilities, Southwest Water, Severn Trent, Thames Water and Southern Water.
These were people, she said, who had had enough of ‘spiralling bills while water companies pour increasing amounts of sewage into our seas and waterways with impunity.’
She insisted that for many, this was not a first step but a final resort ‘because we see no other way to make a difference.’
Like her, many had complained to their water company, to the Consumer Council for Water, to the Water Redress Scheme, Environment Agency and OFWAT.
‘At every stage we are told no, you cannot hold your company accountable for their failures. But if we’re consumers and we’re unhappy with a service we should be able to go elsewhere. We can’t because water is a natural monopoly. We protested, we wrote letters, signed petitions. The government changed. But with water, nothing changed.
‘That’s why so many of us decided, that despite the potential risks, the difficulties, we’re going to use the power we have in our pockets. We’re going to withhold payment for the wastewater service part of our bill.’
She says the boycott movement is now spreading rapidly with thousands accessing the site every week and many now cancelling their direct debits as a ‘first rung on the boycott ladder’.
She said: ‘Nobody is obliged to pay by direct debit, only on receipt of a bill twice a year, and direct debit is how water companies hold money on account, treating us like cash cows.’
Olivia Cavanagh from Hastings Boycotts Southern Water, expressed her disgust at the recent bio bead spill from an Eastbourne sewage treatment plant across the Kent and Sussex coast when ten tonnes of toxic beads were released into the sea, causing catastrophic damage to the coastline and environment.
She asked: ‘Did Southern Water come out and say we’re sorry this has happened, we’re going to clean it up? No, volunteers and voluntary organisations came out. As usual it was left to the community and the people that care about the environment.
‘It’s clear that Southern Water, like all the water companies, don’t give a damn about the environment, the wildlife and the plant system.’
The large and noisy protest drew dozens of encouraging honks from passing cars and trucks and attendees said they were inspired by the energy and passion of the speakers.
‘It’s encouraging to see ordinary people doing something and not just accepting this situation,’ said one passerby. ‘With the sewage and the price increases here, you get the feeling that we are just being taken for mugs. I don’t think I would want to go to court myself, but I think I might cancel my direct debit. It’s better than nothing.’
Julie’s case will be heard at Canterbury County Court on Thursday 26 March at 10am.
Gallery
(Photos by Katy Colley. Click on images to enlarge)
Katy Colley, Rob Yates, Julie Wassmer, Johnbosco Nwogbo, Olivia Cavanagh, Andy Harvey
Watch on YouTube:
For more information visit boycottwaterbills.com
IMPORTANT
Everyone is welcome to join Julie for a photo call outside Canterbury County Court Chaucer Road CT1 1ZA on 26 March at 9.15/9.30, and/or for her court case at 10am, when she will be defending her 4-year payment boycott of Southern Water.
But CHECK her Julie Wassmer (Personal and campaigning) Facebook page on Wed 25th to make sure the case hasn’t been postponed once more. The link to that is: https://www.facebook.com/julie.wassmer.9/
About:
Katy Colley lives in Brede, East Sussex with her husband and two children where they run Dogwood Cottage Campsite. Katy is a ghostwriter by profession and spends a great deal of time working at her shared beach hut in St Leonards on Sea. She is a passionate campaigner for Palestine and clean water.
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