Government intervention to ensure that South-East Water perform their statutory obligations have been welcomed by Wealden Conservatives in the worst affected areas and the local MP.
The Department for Food and Rural Affairs today announced that it is working with the water company to ensure the it is taking all necessary steps to minimise impacts on customers.
“Upgrading infrastructure is key to ensuring a clean, plentiful water supply now and for future generations – and we are clear that water companies must invest in new supply infrastructure and step up their efforts to manage demand,” said a Government spokesman.
While South-East Water struggles to supply water to a significant number of users in East Sussex it has introduced a hosepipe ban.
Johanna Howell, the Conservative district councillor for Wadhurst, one of the worst affected communities, said: “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.
"It should increase supply to customers who have suffered without running water for a week although such a move should not be necessary if the correct infrastructure investment were made to cater for likely demand,” added Cllr Howell.
The Government is working on water supply issues and recently launched its Plan for Water to clean up our waters and ensure a plentiful supply for the future. This includes measures to increase our resilience to drought and the pressures on our water supply.
Among spending will be £1.6 billion of new, accelerated investment by water companies, to spend on new infrastructure to tackle pollution and increase our water resilience
Commenting, Wealden MP, Nus Ghani, said: “I have made urgent representations to Defra and I will continue putting pressure on South-East Water to fix and upgrade their infrastructure and deliver better service to Wealden customers.
“It is unacceptable that Wealden was again been left without water for a week, especially after the disruptive outages just last Christmas”, added Nus Ghani MP. “South East Water have failed yet again and it seems that the weather is never right for them to cope with demand.”
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