Clean Water Watch
A regular column to update readers on the damaging effects of the current management of water in Hastings, surrounding areas (and nationally) and what people are doing about it. If you have any information, please contact [email protected] marked Clean Water Watch.
Save Old Roar Gill (SORG)
A second public meeting was called by SORG on 27 September and chaired by Cllr Andy Batsford. There was a useful discussion, although much was about continued evidence of leaks and the denials from Southern Water. Cllr Batsford accepted that the leaks must have been going on for years. There was also concern about flushing the gill from the ponds above, but this is apparently denied by SW.
It is now clear that there are two citizens’ groups operating with their own Facebook pages, SORG and SCAPORG (Sewage Contamination in Alexandra Park & Old Roar Gill). There was a suggestion that these would benefit from becoming one official group by joining the Friends of Alexandra Park, Hastings (FoAP), who were represented at the meeting. This would give access to financial assets that could be used for testing and other expenses as well as providing more access to official representation with SW and EA.
Cllr Batsford reported back on volunteer clearance in the gill, assuring the meeting that care was taken not to damage natural water management or habitat. There was a second workday on 30 September.
Clean Water Action Group (CWAG)
HAUL-OUT, the DIY community sound system (Instagram @haul_out), hosted a “banging night” at Oscar’s-on-the-Square on Saturday 22 September with She Choir in fine voice. The event helped raise £145 towards CWAG’s next season of winter water tests.
Southern Water
There is a drop-in day at the Stade Hall on Thursday 12 October from 11.00am-7.00pm. This might be a good opportunity to vent frustration, but be prepared with facts (see link to HBC report below) and be prepared to be stonewalled.
Local campaigns
A major Protest by SOS Whitstable on Saturday 23 September not only attracted around 1,000 protesters but also clean water campaigner and musician Feargal Sharkey, comedian and angler Paul Whitehouse, Cat Hobbs from We Own It , boxer Barry McGuigan, Green campaigner Jenny Jones, Whitstable boycotter Frankie Green, SOS organiser Ed Acteson and the Mermaids of Margate. Katy Colley of Boycott Water Bills went along to represent Hastings.
Feargal Sharkey gave a rousing speech, telling Whitstable who have done so much to energise campaigning “You are on the cusp of success.” He called them “the most remarkable people in this country right now” as “you’ve finally decided you’ve had enough”. He ended by quoting a verse from The Cure at Troy by Seamus Heaney, of which the last four lines: “…once in a lifetime, the longed-for tidal wave of justice can rise up, and hope and history rhyme.” Stirring stuff mirrored in the success of the Good Law Project (see below).
Hasting Borough Council
A Council report, discussed at Cabinet on 2 October, clarifies that there has been a serious breakdown of trust between Southern Water, the council and local residents, as well as visitors to the town. The report contains a letter from Cllr Paul Barnet, leader of the council, written in very robust language.
Talking about one issue in Alexandra Park, he writes: “… for the last two months we have been firefighting a series of environmental disasters in our very special Alexandra Park, starting with another sewage leak which polluted the nature reserve at Old Roar Ghyll. Since then, in a series of frankly confusing statements, we understand you have found and dealt with a dozen misconnections feeding into the main park stream and repaired other blocked sewage pipes. Only last week, residents alerted me to sewage below the reservoir. Your response was to quickly take measurements and say this wasn’t the case. But we have the pictures. It happened.”
You can see the full report here tinyurl.com/uhvjsd7d
News from the media
We mentioned West England Bylines was compiling a useful catalogue of information but omitted ‘west’ from the url. It should be as follows: westenglandbylines.co.uk/features/sewage-watch-focus.
On Thursday 28 September, Chris Packham led a group of more than 40 activist groups in a protest outside DEFRA to demand action on the environment. While organisations like the EA and OFWAT have been found toothless, it is hoped that DEFRA will finally take action over the degradation of the environment including holding water companies to account.
Ongoing
In Issue 233 we mentioned Good Law Project’s challenge of the Government’s inadequate plans to tackle sewage dumping. In an update on 25 September, Ends Report (endsreport.com) posted “In an update today, all coastal and estuary storm overflows are now included, and Marine Protected Areas and shellfish water protected areas have been added to the list of high priority sites. The amount of capital investment estimated to be needed over the next 25 years has increased from £56 billion to £60 billion.”
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