Nusrat Ghani, MP for Wealden, has welcomed the introduction of a temporary hosepipe ban to help rectify the water supply issues that have been plaguing Wealden since Sunday 11 June.
Residents of Crowborough, Rotherfield, Mayfield and Wadhurst have been left without water for nearly a week after a spell of hot weather caused higher demand in supply, which South East Water failed to meet.
Nusrat has been making repeated representations to the water company to fix the problem, provide stand up local bottling stations and urged its directors to introduce a temporary hosepipe ban to help improve the situation. Finally, on day six of the outage, this measure was introduced today (Friday 16 June 2023). For more information, please visit www.southeastwater.co.uk.
Nusrat also met with the CEO of Wealden District Council and visited local bottled water stations to ensure that sufficient supply is being provided to residents while the issues are ongoing. She also met with the leadership of Rotherfield Primary School, who are one of the schools in the area that were forced to shut due to lack of water.
Nusrat Ghani said: “South East Water have failed yet again. It seems that the weather is never right for them to cope with demand as we were in the same situation just last Christmas. After days of urging South East Water to help with the appalling situation by introducing a temporary hosepipe ban, I am pleased that they have finally done so. I know it is not what all local residents wanted, but this measure will increase water supply to Wealden customers by 10%. It is unacceptable that our care homes, schools and farms in particular have been left without water for days on end and I will be enquiring about the South East Water’s emergency plans to deliver water to them, and about their plans for compensation. I met with Wealden District Council CEO and visited local bottled water stations to check that there is enough supply in the meantime and I keep putting pressure on South East Water to prioritise fixing the issues in Crowborough, Rotherfield, Mayfield and Wadhurst so that normal service can be resumed imminently.”
The original article is available here.