Political opinion with Alison Bennett MP: Water failures leave Mid Sussex communities high and dry

Last Tuesday, a constituent contacted my office to report that residents in Staplefield had been without water since 9pm the previous evening and had yet to receive any assistance or bottled supplies. Despite neighbours raising the issue with South East Water shortly after the outage began, the company later claimed it was unaware of the situation until 2pm the following afternoon, nearly 18 hours later after households first lost water. This meant that at that point, no plan had been made to support the 136 affected households.

I immediately pressed South East Water for an urgent update and for bottled water deliveries to be arranged, and I was reassured that supplies would be provided, including to those on the Priority Services Register. However, by that evening, residents reported that no water had arrived, leaving households, businesses and livestock to face another night without supply. I have since learnt from local schools that they had to close, only realising there was no running water when staff arrived to school in the morning. Communication was sparse and unclear, which understandably heightened concern across the village.

The following morning, I raised the issue on BBC Sussex. Although the water supply had been restored earlier that day, the promised home deliveries never materialised. Instead, bottled water was left at a central location around 9pm, twenty-four hours after the outage began. Residents were not informed. 

I spent Sunday afternoon in Staplefield talking to people in the village. What became clear from my conversations was that people had very different experiences of the outage. Some had no water at all, whilst others had no interruption to their supply. They all agreed that South East Water's communication was poor and there was a sense of weary resignation that supply interruptions are only to be expected these days.

This breakdown in communication reflects broader concerns I have raised with South East Water. In the same week, Burgess Hill estate agent Mansell McTaggart faced severe flooding to their basement, with water repeatedly returning despite South East Water coming out with tankers to pump away the water. Staff reported a lack of accountability and inadequate response, leaving them to manage ongoing damage alone with no certainty about when they would be able to resume their business and begin to deal with the damage.  

While I recognise that improving water infrastructure will take time, residents deserve clear communication and reliable support when services fail. I have raised these concerns directly with the Minister for Water and Flooding, and I will continue to hold South East Water to account to ensure our communities receive the service they deserve.