Letter

Not Council’s Responsibility  

Dear HIP

Your article in HIP 263 A Landslide for Local Democracy? about the Old Roar Gill makes no sense. If, as you say, the land on which the affected buildings are standing doesn’t belong to Hastings Borough Council (HBC), and  the footpath belongs to East Sussex County Council (ESCC) then HBC isn’t responsible for the damage. The developer who built the houses is responsible, because it was his land and he should have done the stress tests on it.  Since there are several streams that discharge into Alexandra Park, that is a mandatory precaution. 

If the surveyors from the insurance companies have concluded that the developer is responsible because the foundations were not good enough for the terrain, then it will be the developer who needs to repair, and to compensate the owners for the landslides. The footpath is ESCC’s responsibility, not HBC’s. But a footpath itself can’t be responsible for a landslide as it is only for walkers – unless residents were using any kind of heavy vehicles on the footpath. I am sure the residents are very upset, but I don’t see why the taxpayer in Hastings is expected to compensate anyone since this is a development on private land. 

It is the developer’s insurance that needs to address this issue, and the insurers of individual owners. If the developer isn’t insured or hasn’t made the requisite land survey or hasn’t erected the proper foundations for the type of soil, they are responsible. Normally all owners are insured too. I feel for them, but it is the personal responsibility of everyone to do proper surveys before buying a property.

T Gillham 

Letter

Old Roar Gill Water overload

Whilst I fully understand the Hastings Borough Council decision of a straightforward 50/50 split on the proposed investigative costs in this matter, this only identifies the land ownership rather than the causes of the slippages. Having observed the water running through the ghyll and the attendant development around and above it for over 30 years, it is clear there has been a lack of maintenance within the ghyll itself in order to ensure good water flow.  

What has not so far been mentioned in determining responsibility is the huge increase in water load into the stream. There has been continued small-scale infill along Old Roar Road itself which has no drainage – in heavy rain large amounts of water can be seen issuing over the road edge into the ghyll. There is also the much larger development to the north in the Little Ridge area and the Conquest Hospital. This was added over many years without considering what  the effects might be on the sides of the ghyll at a steep narrow section. 

Culpability in this sorry tale must therefore also lie with the owners of Old Roar Road and with Southern Water, who added substantial flow into the stream as an easy and low-cost solution rather than doing the thorough engineering job that was needed.

Ken Davis

DR RALITSA HITEVA

Last Wednesday evening (16 October), residents affected by the landslide at the Old Roar Gill (ORG) in February gathered in Muriel Matters House for an Extraordinary General Meeting of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) to discuss three options for the next steps in dealing with the consequences of the landslide.

Option 1 involved HBC paying for further investigations into the cause of the landslide on HBC-owned land only. Option 2 involved widening the scope of the investigation to include other privately owned land and to share the costs of this work with the affected residents. Option 3 was essentially to do nothing.

ORG residents were not consulted with or involved in the design of the three options. In fact, despite repeated questions about how the options were determined, HBC’s only response was to say they were designed based on the findings of an insurance report which was completed in April. The report, based mostly on desk-based research and a brief site visit, did not seek to establish liability, but instead discussed potential contributing factors and recommended a suite of further investigations to understand the full scope and scale of the cause and potential repair. 

We raised concerns about the lack of engagement and the design and description of the three options in a letter sent to all councillors. We also pointed out that Option 2 listed pros which would also be true for Option 1. We were told that this was due to human error and that councillors would be briefed about the potential pros. The Council had over five weeks to correct the report it sent to councillors, but did not do so. 

The most worrying thing for all of us was that we were not given any details of the proposed work or costs under Option 2, even though HBC has already selected Coffey Geotechnics to carry out this work. For us, Option 2 seemed as unrealistic as Option 3. 

Around 20 residents turned up to the first part of the meeting, whilst many more watched online. This part of the meeting was streamed online and allowed the public to be present, without being able to participate in the discussion. The second part of the meeting was behind closed doors and included discussion of financial and legal issues and the vote.

It turns out that democracy in practice is a short, edited affair. The first part of the meeting lasted a little over 22 minutes with a handful of questions from councillors and two senior HBC officials misrepresenting the truth. The Chief Legal Officer denied that the landslip was on HBC-owned land stating that “the lower part of the Old Roar Gill, the ecological area, that’s on the bottom, where the waterfall and everything else is, is owned by the Council. The actual area of the collapse is owned by the respective residents who live on that slope.” 

This statement goes against Land Registry information and HBC’s own webpage. The landslide affected land in the HBC-owned Gill, a public path for which East Sussex CC is responsible, and which stood between the Gill and the private residents’ homes and several properties at the top. It is hard to comprehend what the purpose is of making such a statement, apart from yet another attempt to distance the Council from the landslide. 

This was followed by a statement from HBC’s Head of Strategic Programmes who stated that discussions about Option 2 have already taken place with residents and “that they would be engaged in any design.” This could not be further from the truth. HBC themselves confirmed this when denying a freedom of information request under the Environmental Information Regulations to provide the cost and scope of work documents for Coffey Geotechnics. They stated, “the requested information has not been shared with the affected residents, therefore, unfair to release into the public domain.”

At this point some of us walked out of the meeting. 

It is difficult to find the right words to describe how, we, the residents, felt after the meeting. Two words could be heard muttered the most by the small crowd gathered in the lobby of the council building: “cruel” and “shameful.” If this part of the footage had not been edited out by the Council, people watching the recording of Part 1 could have heard them too.

The way HBC is dealing with the ORG residents and the landslide is much bigger than the shifting earth mass and empty homes around the Gill. It gives a glimpse into a local authority desperate to bend the truth and unwilling to stand with residents and communities in the face of this disaster.

Hastings Borough Council has prepared a ‘toolkit’ leaflet for residents concerned about landslides in the wake of those that impacted, separately, the neighbourhoods of Old Roar Gill and of Caves Road in February this year. 

The Council was widely criticised at the time by residents living in Foxcote and Penhurst Close for its poor response to the ecological calamity at Old Roar Gill. The devastating landslip forced many people to abandon their homes, as parts of their properties were pushed into the ravine. 

Their experience was shared by those living in Caves Road, below West Hill Road in St Leonards, who, just days later, were also instructed to leave their homes in a separate incident with no certainty as to when they would be allowed to return.

There have been several other land slippages across Hastings and St Leonards in recent years, including cliff collapses between West Hill Road and the Marina and at Rock-a-Nore: all have caused extensive damage. Residents of the town have been told to expect more such events in the future as global warming and climate change are predicted to result in more flooding, coastal erosion and landslides.

COUNCIL TEAM

Stung by the criticism of its slow response in February and March, the new Green-led Council has assembled a Land Stability Team made up of communication and engagement officers, insurance and building control specialists, a hydrologist and a flood defence specialist to advise on future environmental events. The new team is headed by Stephen Dodson, HBC’s Head of Strategic Programmes. He will provide regular reports to the Council on the many “complex and complicated” causes of the landslides and offer advice on how to respond to future events.

In the meantime, the toolkit seeks to give practical advice to those who may be affected. It sets out the first actions that residents should take if they fear a landslip is happening, such as to report it to the police and to the Council, particularly if they hear sounds such as trees breaking or rocks moving, or feel movement in the ground. They should also watch for secondary risks that can follow a landslide, such as flooding, fallen power lines, broken gas pipes and damage to structures. Residents are instructed to check their homes for any immediate damage or cracks and to contact their insurance company and utilities providers to make them aware.

The key aim is to prepare those living in vulnerable areas for the eventuality of a flooding or landslide by better understanding the local risks and to make themselves aware of any previous issues. It sets out measures to reduce risk by making sure gutters and downpipes are not overflowing or leaking, and advises use of rainwater collected in water butts for watering the garden. It also advises against the removal of trees and bushes from steep slopes, as in many cases vegetation acts to bind the soil and remove ground water, reducing the likelihood of shallow movements.

RESIDENTS’ RESPONSE

The toolkit is described as having been “put together with the help of residents directly affected by the most recent landslides”. However Dr Ralitsa Hiteva, who was forced to leave her Foxcote home in February, said she found it “quite disturbing to watch Council officers briefing the Cabinet about the positive working with local residents, when my experience was completely different.” The communication between residents and the Council “was so bad”, she pointed out, “we had to file a complaint for maladministration, poor communication and unprofessional behaviour against HBC officers with the Chief Executive.”

Dr Hiteva, who is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sussex and a key member of the Facebook Group Falling through the cracks: Old Roar Gill landslip, described HBC as “in denial” about the sheer scale of the problem, having “neither the capacity nor operational expertise” to deal with the landslides. She said she was pleased that the toolkit had been developed together with local residents, but pointedly added that she was “sad that it didn’t include us. Had they asked for our input, there is a lot that we would have advised them to do differently.”

The toolkit is available online at: hastings.gov.uk/content/my_community/landstab/A4-resident-landslide-toolkit-leaflet.pdf

Hastings Borough Council’s insurers have agreed to fund the cost of an urgent geotechnical survey of the area of Old Roar Gill which suffered a severe landslip last month. The survey will cover both the land in the Gill owned by the council and the private properties directly impacted, some of which had to be vacated.

Council leader Julia Hilton said: “I know the inactivity on Old Roar Gill has been a real frustration for residents, and I completely understand that. We are still awaiting details of timescales, but we are pushing for the work to be carried out as soon as possible. This is a major step in understanding what caused the landslip and identifying what actions need to be taken in moving forward.”

PAUL McLAUGHLIN 

Hastings Borough Council (HBC) has set up a dedicated emergency response taskforce to coordinate efforts to help those affected by the Old Roar Gill landslip. It will be joined by well-respected former council officer Kevin Boorman, notwithstanding his official retirement last year. His role is “to engage with affected residents and provide feedback to the taskforce”.

Julia Hilton, the Leader of the Council, made the announcement after a stormy meeting at the Hastings Centre on The Ridge on 5 March attended by up to 100 local residents.

Cllr Hilton had already issued a statement apologising to residents for the lack of support or information in the immediate aftermath of the landslide on 15 February. She promised that “we will do better in the future” and spoke of a commitment “to reviewing how we work in emergencies in the future to try to address some of the concerns that were raised by residents affected”.

Responding to this statement, Borough councillors and officers attended the meeting on 5 March in force. Present in addition to Cllr Hilton were Cllr Glenn Haffenden, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Community Safety and Health; Cllr Simon Willis, Housing Portfolio Holder; the two local ward councillors for Conquest, Cllrs Paul Foster and John Rankin; Victoria Conheady, Deputy Chief Executive of the Council; Chris Hancock, Head of Housing, and Natasha Tewkesbury, Head of Community and Regulatory Services. 

The meeting got off to an inauspicious start when a request by officers for residents not to record the meeting was greeted with angry shouts from the floor. Order was restored only when it was agreed that a council representative would take notes.

Residents then vented their fury at the lack of contact from the council and its failure to keep them informed about what, if any, action it was taking. One angry resident said that HBC “should be ashamed and embarrassed to be sitting here. You do not understand. You are going home to your nice warm house tonight. I don’t have one. I have worked my whole life for that home. Everything that I have is in it….It has stood there for nearly 70 years, with no issues whatsoever.”

Cllr Hilton repeated her apologies but told the meeting that a new dedicated team had been set up, with liaison to be provided by Kevin Boorman, which “will enable us to do a much better job.” They would focus wholly on the issues at Old Roar Gill. She said she was still trying to secure funding for a similar team to coordinate efforts to deal with the ongoing landslip between West Hill Road and Caves Road in St Leonards.

COUNCIL RETRACTION

Residents responded by calling on the council to retract statements it had made about the origins of the landslip and, in particular, to share the details of a survey carried out by its consultants BdR (Civil and Structural Engineering) Ltd, which purported to show that the landslip had started on private land.

It was admitted by a council officer that the BdR graphs were not representative of the Old Roar Gill landslip but rather were a “general representational of a slip plane, and not an actual representation of what occurred in this instance”. For that, a survey would need to be carried out on private land – “not something the council could authorise, and therefore residents were advised to contact their own insurance companies to carry out these surveys.”

The landslip has so far claimed over 40 trees, and tonnes of earth are now at the bottom of the Gill, along with fences, decking, sheds and other debris. There are over 100 residents who face an uncertain future, not knowing if they will be able to get insurance and, if they do, whether they will be able to afford the new premiums. Three houses are now very close to the edge of the landslide, and two of them have been deemed to be too dangerous to live in, leaving four people now homeless.

CROWDFUNDER

Those affected have set up a Crowdfunder page to fund expert legal and technical support. Money raised will go towards challenging the conditions of the Emergency Prohibition Orders which now bar a number of residents from living in their homes. It’s also intended to commission environmental, soil and geotechnical reports which will consider the legacy issues of planning, environmental and water management and maintenance. 

Dr Ralitsa Hiteva who lives in Foxcote, made a general appeal: “Everything we learn about the process, what kinds of expertise are needed and where and how to look for support, will be turned into open resources, guides and advice for any community affected by landslide in the UK. We hope that you will come on this journey with us and lend your support. Because this could happen to anyone. We still can’t believe it is happening to us.”

Sally-Ann Hart, MP for Hastings & Rye, visited last week to see the damage for herself. She described the devastation caused to homes and lives as “overwhelming”. She confirmed that, as well as contacting HBC to raise concerns on behalf of the affected residents, she would meet with Robbie Moore, the Minister for Water and Rural Growth within Defra (Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), to push for extra funding to tackle the issue. In particular, she would ask him to consider extending the Flood Re insurance initiative, which helps homeowners in flood-prone areas to obtain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost, to cover landslides.

She also called for a more strategic management framework of landslides, including better monitoring to detect early signs of instability. “Addressing landslides and climate change will require a team effort from all levels of government, experts and the community. Only by working together can we build resilience and protect our coastal areas.”

Contributions to the Crowdfund appeal can be made through the website crowdfunder.co.uk/p/falling-through-the-cracks-1.

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 community@hastingsindependentpress.co.uk marked Clean Water Watch.   

WORDS OR DEEDS FROM SOUTHERN WATER 

As if to underline the PR nature of Southern Water’s drop-in at the Stade, Saturday 12 October, Your Water Matters, it was quickly followed by a yet another massive leak in Bulverthythe. Cllr Maya Evans posted on Facebook, 18 October: “There’s currently several inches of sewage and an overwhelming stench.” Clean Water Action Group posted in their WhatsApp group: “86 tankers have been ordered. And more rain is forecast tonight.”

More rain indeed, and on 27 October there was a deluge, flooding the centre of town for the second time this year (see front page report). To add insult to injury, the report into January’s flood has only just been published – completed in the absence of significant documentation that Southern Water was unable to locate. Sounds familiar? (You can read Paul McLaughlin’s analysis of the report on page 2)

HOW DID WE GET HERE

On page 16, an opinion piece, Water Woes, provides a useful context for unacceptable situation in the water industry, particularly focussing on where all the money goes. 

OLD ROAR GILL

Miriam Lengliné of Sewage Contamination Group (SCG) recently reported the sad death of Rusty the dog who had entered the Gill back in May – around the time or the spill which led to the start of community action. Although we cannot be sure of the cause, Miriam posted: “For months we’ve been saying that there might have been dead dogs for years, months, without their owners knowing what happened!” And apparently clear warning signs for dog owners and others have still not been placed in the Gill. 

In the meantime, there have been reports of a more activity around Old Roar Gill (before the flooding). Because of leaks? To avoid leaks? Who knows? 

CLEAN WATER ACTION GROUP CROWDFUNDS FOR TESTING

In the absence of appropriate action by those in charge, CWAG is raising money to do it themselves As they say on the Crowdfunder: “The Environment Agency test the water in the ‘bathing season’ which is from 15th May to the end of September, but no one is monitoring the pollution in the months of October to April! People are still in the water, swimming, walking their dogs, paddleboarding, Kayaking and letting their children paddle year-round.” 

To donate, go to crowdfunder.co.uk/p/test-the-water-clean-water-action-pollution-watch.

NEWS FROM OFWAT

The Guardian (26 October) reports that Ofwat has “raised a red flag” over the financial health of Southern Water (along with three other water companies) citing growing anger over “the industry’s record on services and pollution”. The regulator highlights Southern Water as a company needing to “shore up their long-term finances”. The privatised model is clearly broken.

CORRECTION

In Clean Water Watch 3 (20 September), we quoted an article by Julie Bygraves in Sussex Bylines, Money down the drain? The article explains how the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model, used for setting utility prices via our bills, encourages water authorities to acquire a “steaming pile of debt”. We mistakenly reported that this model allows water companies to use their ‘public assets’ as collateral; in fact it is their ‘regulated assets’ they use as collateral. (What had been public assets were handed over to the water companies on privatisation.)

Meeting 2: Old Roar Gill Campaigners, the Pumphouse, Alexandra Park

Campaigners at the meeting on 3 August called for Old Roar Gill and the Buckswood Reservoir in Alexandra Park to be granted bathing water status as one way of protecting the waters from the dumping of raw sewage. Rebecca Sinker from the Clean Water Action Group (CWAG) explained this would require the Environment Agency (EA) to conduct more intensive pollution monitoring to ensure safe swimming.

There is continued anger that Southern Water doesn’t take sewage leaks seriously and still fails to acknowledge that they constitute a major public health risk. Water quality samples taken by the CWAG in July found extremely high levels of E-coli: 8,800 cfu/100 ml (colony forming units per 100 ml of water) against a bathing water standard set by the EA of up to 500 cfu/100 ml.

The third meeting was to be on Friday 18 August with Cllr Andy Batsford leading a walking meeting from the top of Buckswood Reservoir, but it was unexpectedly cancelled.

Local documentaries under discussion

Two local filmmakers are considering producing documentaries about the behaviour of Southern Water and privatised water companies in general.

Hasting Borough Council

Updates to come. To report problems with Southern Water you can use this link: tinyurl.com/myfu7bb3

Our Local MP

A number of local residents have received identical, empty responses from Sally-Ann Hart which indicate her unwillingness to engage on the embarrassing issue (for the Conservative Party) of privatised water companies.

National

Ongoing: Good Law Project challenged the Government’s inadequate plans to tackle sewage dumping in the High Court in early July. This was in support of claims by the Marine Conservation Society, Richard Haward’s Oysters plus surfer and activist, Hugo Tagholm. A separate claim by conservation campaign group WildFish was heard at the same time. Judgements to be made later this year.

For further information visit: goodlawproject.org/the-sewage-scandal-and-what-we-are-doing-about-it

The Pumphouse in Alexandra Park was packed last week (14 July) for a meeting to discuss the recent sewage pollution of the Old Roar Gill. There was a strong turn-out too from Hastings Borough councillors: six from Labour and three Greens were in attendance. 

Myriam Lengliné from the local activist group, Sewage Contamination in Alexandra Park & Old Roar Gill, spoke with passion about the sewage leaks which, she said, had turned the stream that flows into the Buckshole Reservoir into a “giant open sewer”. She claimed that the most recent leaks, which date back to mid-May, had “poisoned wildlife and left pet dogs suffering bouts of vomiting, diarrhoea and seizures.”

There was palpable anger from many of those in attendance at the lack of communication from both Southern Water, who are responsible for the sewage network within the park, and from the council, which owns the park. Both faced stinging criticism for their failure to act in an open and transparent manner in the face of what a number of people described as an “environmental and ecological disaster” with serious health and safety risks to children and animals. There were complaints that there were still no warning signs around the park and woods to warn visitors of the dangers.

Council leader Paul Barnett acknowledged the scale of the sewage leaks. He proposed setting up an on-going group to protect the Gill and called on local residents to join in and help the council to gather detailed information which could then be properly assessed to “discover who did what, when, and how this has impacted local ecology since May.” 

Pointing to the number of local councillors present, he said the protection of the Gill was a major priority for the council and added that he and his colleagues “were all determined to hold Southern Water and the Environment Agency to account.” 

Damning results

As if right on cue, Becca Horn from the Hastings and St Leonards Clean Water Action Group read out damning results of water samples taken from the Old Roar Gill which appear to contradict information presented by Sue Cobb, Southern Water’s head of Stakeholder Engagement.  

In an email dated 11 July, Sue Cobb stated: “Following a report of a possible pollution in the Buckshole Reservoir area, a team attended on site last night. We tested in three different places including two surface water outfalls. A sample was also collected from the downstream watercourse and there were no issues found in any of the samples”. 

However, water quality samples taken by the Clean Water Action Group on 12 July and tested at the Envirochem Analytical Laboratories Ltd in Fareham and paid for by local people, found “extremely high levels of E-Coli.” There were 8,800 cfu/100 ml (colony-forming units per 100 ml of water) against a bathing water standard set by the Environment Agency of up to 500 cfu/100 ml.

The Group believes the quantity levels of bacteria were the result of sewage pollution and they have urged the Environment Agency to “undertake a full, independent investigation to determine the source.” 

The Environment Agency publish a water quality data archive. The sampling figures for the “East Confluence by Tennis Courts” in the park taken on 29 June 2023 show extremely high levels for E-Coli and intestinal enterococci. There were 6,900 cfu/100 ml against a bathing water standard up to 185 cfu/100 ml. This suggests that there has been a serious discharge or, more likely, an on-going misconnection into the water course which joins through the culvert running under St Helens Road between the junctions at Ashford Road and at Dordrecht Way.

In the wake of these new figures, Cllr Heather Bishop has called for signage to be put up by the council to warn people to keep their dogs away from the water. She has also called on Southern Water to investigate another misconnection in the park.

It will be of interest to Paul Barnett and local residents to know that the detailed water quality information he wants help in gathering is freely available through the DEFRA data services platform on the Environment Agency Water Quality Archive.

To date, Southern Water have still not released any detailed water sampling data. 

It has been yet another bad fortnight for Southern Water. After being roundly criticised (see HIP 228) over its failure to provide crucial data to an independent inquiry set up to investigate the flooding of Hastings town centre back in January, things got worse in several directions for the privatised water company.

A pollution leak into Buckshole Pond in Alexandra Park poisoned fish and caused diarrhoea in dogs; people living in Ore and Fairlight were left without running water; more raw sewage was dumped into the sea; and the car park at the old bathing pool in Bulverhythe had to be closed for public safety.

On top of these incidents came leaked slides from Southern Water proposing a 73% increase in bills over the coming years to pay for all the extra investment needed to clean up the mess.

Sick animals at Old Roar Gill 

There have been a number of leaks from sewers close to Buckshole Pond in the park in recent weeks. The first leak was reported back on 14 May when residents complained of a strong toxic smell and gave vivid reports of seeing untreated sewage in the stream that runs south through Old Roar Gill and Coronation Wood Nature Reserve into Buckshole. There have been four further leaks since, caused by a “fatberg” of un-flushable material in the drains.

Myriam Lengliné, from the Sewage Contamination in Alexandra Park and Old Roar Gill Facebook group said that local people had only found out about the environmental hazard when warning signs were put up by Hastings and Bexhill Angling Association advising its members that the area was closed due to sewage leaks in the water. 

Following reports of dogs falling sick after drinking the polluted water, the group paid for and put up their own signs warning of the “environmental and ecological disaster” and advising of the “serious health risks to children and animals.”

Southern Water admitted that the initial leak had resulted in the death of fish and eels. Sue Cobb, their Stakeholder Engagement Manager, issued a statement that the leaks had been “found on unmapped sewers that came into our ownership in 2011”. She said engineers were “working as quickly as we can to carry out this repair”. She insisted that the company had put up their own signs in the area to inform people of what was happening but had had to remove them after they were vandalised. She wanted to reassure residents that “this small leak has been completely contained”.

Locals were not reassured, however, highlighting the continuing strong acrid smell across parts of Alexandra Park and a build-up of algae and foam on the reservoir as evidence of a much bigger problem than Southern Water are prepared to admit. They also pointed to the continued presence of the company’s vans in the area as testament to the fact that the clean-up is still on-going. There is a growing anger that their concerns have not been fully addressed.

Ore and Fairlight without water

For those living in Ore and Fairlight, the problems with Southern Water were with the actual supply. On 15 June, residents there began reporting that discoloured water was coming from taps with a strong smell of chlorine. Southern Water identified the problem as a pump failure at the Darwell Pumping Station and Reservoir. They despatched a team of engineers to fix the problem, but not before 1,800 homes had been left completely without water.

For most residents the supply returned to normal the following morning, but others were left without water for up to five days. When the water supply was fully restored, customers were advised to run their taps for a few minutes before drinking. With the help of Hastings Borough Council, the company opened an emergency unit at the Pelham Place Car Park to distribute bottled water, later re-sited to Asda in Silverhill.

The company blamed the recent hot weather for causing a spike in demand and appealed to customers to use as little water as possible to avoid further restrictions.

More raw sewage into the sea

Perhaps it was inevitable that, within the recent heat wave, there would occur some stormy weather, and sure enough at the weekend of 17-18 June Hastings experienced an intense thunderstorm and was deluged by heavy rain. The intensity of the rain was such that sewers and sewage pipes were once again overwhelmed and Southern Water took the decision (once again) to open the sluice gates and dump raw sewage into the sea to relieve pressure on the system. Surfers against Sewage described the action as “simply staggering though not surprising”.

Old Bathing Pool, Bulverhythe

Another problem for the company emerged towards the end of last week at the site of the old bathing pool in Bulverhythe, which has led to yet more inconvenience for local people.

When the Bulverhythe main sewer split in February, Southern Water commandeered the car park by the playground for its fleet of tankers. The repair took several weeks to complete, and the car park was left in a terrible state. The extent of the damage was such that the company was forced to repair it.

Paul Barnett, the borough council leader, reported, however, that the repair was so bad that the council had been forced to close the area to the public immediately. He said: “It looks as if Southern Water have scooped up shingle from the beach and dumped it on the worn-out surface, so cars can’t safely use it.”

…and yet, bills to increase by 73% ?

Despite this catalogue of failure, Southern Water has indicated an intention to increase bills by 73%, meaning an average household bill would rise to £759 per year. Unlike its plans to invest an extra £50m in the next two years to reduce storm overflows and its commitment to reduce sewage spills by 25% before 2030 and by 75% by 2050, which were widely trailed on television and in the national media, the proposed increases in bills were leaked to the Press Association. Southern Water insisted that the leaked slides set out various options for future billings and were not final proposals.

A company spokesperson said Southern Water was set to increase household bills in line with inflation for the 2023-24 period. This means dual service customers can expect an increase of 9.4% on their charges, with an average annual bill rising from £401 to £439, while water-only bills would go up by 9% and waste-only by 9.7%.

For many local people, the shoddy car park repair encapsulates Southern Water’s whole approach to its business dealings – namely, one short-term fix after another.

Sitting Conservative MP for Hastings and Rye, Sally Ann Hart, said there was an urgent need for even greater investment to improve water infrastructure. She insisted that the Government has a fully costed plan to eradicate sewage discharges into rivers and the sea, and that this plan includes the “strictest targets” to deliver the largest infrastructure programme in water company history. In the meantime she “strongly opposed” Southern Water’s leaked plans for a 73% increase in bills, saying “people want clean water but do not want to be crippled by bills.”

Helena Dollimore, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate in opposition, said: “It’s one failure after another. From sewage to flooding to the taps running dry – all while we pay more and Southern Water makes eye-watering profits. It’s time they got their act together and invested properly in our water infrastructure. With the climate emergency upon us, the time to fix infrastructure and protect our water is now. A Labour Government would get tough on the water companies and legislate to end the sewage scandal.” 

JOHN R PARSONS

Old Roar Ghyll
its ancient slabs still shed
creation’s trickle

steep timber steps
rise and fall between glades
on the treacherous path

clinging to vertical sides
old oaks convey networks
of ivy into sky

how cleverly saplings
chafe and warble fake
human voices

pool side ferns
quiver above ripples
of pond skaters

fallen trees bridge
moss creased strata, bound
by sinews of root

well predating mankind
the Ghyll now holds
their broken furniture

Council protects nature reserves

Colin Fitzgerald, lead member for the Environment said: “Hastings Borough Council has protected the very best wildlife areas in the town by declaring them Local Nature Reserves, …high-quality open spaces for our local community to enjoy. We face a crisis in the UK with biodiversity continuing to decline.These bye-laws aim to protect these areas from anti-social behaviour and allow our native wildlife to thrive.”

The nature reserves are: Hastings Country Park, Old Roar Gill and Coronation Wood, Church Wood and Robsack, Marline Valley, Filsham Reedbeds, St Helen’s Woods Summerfields Wood and Ponds Wood will be included at a later date. These new bye-laws await confirmation by the government Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 

Digital active

Summerfields Leisure Centre has opened a new £45k augmented climbing wall using projected graphics along with body tracking technology to create an interactive gaming experience. The climbing wall provides a variety of activities from fun games through to challenging training applications and brings the sport of climbing to a whole new audience. 

There is also a new MultiBall system which turns a wall into a large gaming console with a touchscreen sensitive to ball or hand, enabling individuals or groups of people to play a variety of fun and educational games, combining physical education and interactive team building. 

• To find out more visit: www.freedom-leisure.co.uk/centres/summerfields-leisure-centre

Better bottles

Social enterprise and ethical water company, Belu is the first to make all plastic bottles from 100% recycled plastic. The 100% recycled material used by the British water brand generates 75% less carbon emissions than aluminium and is easily recycled, unlike a carton. Belu is a social enterprise that gives 100% of profits to charity WaterAid, £4 million so far. 

Making bottles from 100% recycled plastic reduces emissions and other pollutants; nothing new needs to be made as it uses a resource that already exists. It may also create demand and value for recycled plastic bottles, ultimately fuelling investment in better local recycling infrastructure.

Belu’s ‘ethical glass’ bottles are made from recycled content and also 100% recyclable. It is the only water brand to achieve the British Standard Institute’s carbon neutrality standard. 

• For more information follow @BeluWater on Twitter.