Hundreds of Isle of Wight residents are expected to turn out on Tuesday evening (6pm on 19th April) in Seaview to meet with representatives from Southern Water in a public meeting at the Sea View Yacht Club – with the aim of keeping sewage off our beaches and holding Southern Water to account.
The water company accepted the invitation from Cllr David Adams (IW Council and Nettlestone and Seaview Parish Council) to meet and has agreed to send senior management and engineers to face questions from members of the public.
Long-running campaign
This follows a long campaign in Nettlestone and Seaview, led by Raymond Simonds, with support from many villagers – which reflects similar sentiment across the Island about the state of our beaches and swimming waters.
Raymond and others had noticed raw sewage flowing from ‘outfall pipes’ directly onto the beach in Seaview after significant rainfall – and alerted Southern Water to the problem.
Work delayed to repair pipes
In February 2022 the company agreed to repair the main pipe that lies just east of the Old Fort Pub with a date set for late April. It now seems that work has been delayed – just one thing that local people will be asking SW about on Tuesday.
Questions are expected on a wide-range of sewage-related topics including: timing on upgrading our existing sewage infrastructure; the need for more monitoring stations; concerns over safety for swimmers and asking for more specific information on the future of sewage removal in Seaview and across the Island.
Simmonds: Our combined efforts have now paid off
Campaigner Raymond Simmonds says,
“We’ve run a tightly-focussed campaign with one simple objective and many villagers have contributed to our pressure group by writing to Southern Water, local politicians and the media. Now our combined efforts have now paid off.
“This meeting is about making our beaches and swimming waters safe for everyone to enjoy and it is good progress that Southern Water has agreed to come and hear the depth of feeling, and hopefully get their mess cleared up.”
Seely: Assurances given
Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely, says,
“Southern Water confirmed its commitment to repair the main Seaview Outfall (Combined Sewage Overflow) when I met with their team on the Island in February. This outfall lies east of the Old Fort and has been responsible for sewage flow onto the beach on occasion. Southern Water also gave me assurance that they will deal with any potential issues with piping in Sandy Cove and the Salterns.
“I am pleased that Southern Water has invested £56million into making improvements to its network on the Island, both in Seaview and other areas. I am grateful to Seaview residents and Councillors who have pressed, and continue to press, Southern Water on this.”
Adams: I encourage everyone to join us at the meeting
Cllr David Adams says,
“This is a valuable and welcome opportunity for the local community to meet directly with representatives of the organisation entrusted with safeguarding one of our most precious resources: our water.
“As a coastal community, with an ageing, underinvested infrastructure, it is vital we as customers continue to engage with Southern Water and hold them to account, so I encourage everyone to join us at the meeting on Tuesday to demonstrate the strong affinity with protecting our environment that I know exists.”
News shared by Harriet Hadfield, in her own words. Ed
