Wealden Councillors Set To Call For Lower Housing Targets In Wake Of Water Outages

Wealden councillors could be set to call for lower housing targets in light of the recent water outages in parts of the district. 

Next Wednesday (June 28), Wealden District Council is to hold an extraordinary meeting in the wake of a mass outage, which has hit South East Water customers in several areas. 

During the meeting, councillors are set to debate a single motion, which has received cross-party support. 

It calls on council leader James Patridge (Lib Dem) and chief executive Trevor Scott to write to South East Water asking for a full explanation of the recent failures and the full details of the steps being taken to address it. 

However, it also calls on Cllr Patridge and Mr Scott to write to government, both setting out the council’s “considerable concerns at the failures on the part of South East Water to maintain an adequate supply of water” and asking for a reduction in housing targets “until there is a long term solution to the water shortage.”

In a public statement issued last week, Cllr Patridge has committed to both writing to South East Water and submitting a formal complaint to the water company’s regulator, OFWAT.

In it, he wrote:

“I should make it clear that South East Water (SEW) is, alone, responsible for supplying water to the Wealden District. WDC does not supply water and has no water infrastructure. It does not regulate South East Water and has no legal powers over it. OFWAT is the only organisation with those powers.

“As local councillors, we do have a duty to represent residents’ views to SEW (and others) and I gratefully acknowledge the efforts of all who have done this."

He added:

“The root cause of the problem is a lack of investment in the district’s water infrastructure.This is true of many, if not all, parts of the country. Putting that right is a matter for national government and I wish I could see any signs of that nettle being grasped.”

However, Cllr Patridge’s response to the issue has come in for criticism from the council’s Conservative group, who have branded it “chaotic and indecisive.” They argued the council’s cabinet should have declared a major incident and taken stronger steps to hold South East Water to account. 

In a statement issued last week, Conservative group leader Ann Newton said:

“It is shocking that Wealden’s ruling Cabinet is not holding South-East Water to account as the crisis escalates”, says Conservative leader, Cllr Ann Newton.

“With more schools being forced to close, no published timetable as to when supplies will return, and the water company unable to issues assurances to our MP, it is surely time for emergency action.

 “Being what’s known as a Category One responder, Wealden District Council could declare a major incident which would then bring in other agencies automatically, not least the county council and Sussex Resilience Forum.

“The systems are in place for catastrophes such as this. The wheels need to be put in motion, now.”