1 week Ago
A multi-million-pound plan has been launched to help protect a seaside town blighted by flooding and water issues. Hastings has suffered from multiple devastating floods and issues with water supply as a result of a burst water mains and storms in recent years. Now, Southern Water say their performance in the area “must improve” as it sets out its plans to improve the area in the next five years.
Tim McMahon, managing director Southern Water, said: “We have been working closely with the local community, Hastings Borough Council and other partners, in putting together this important action plan – and I am confident that it will live up to our customers’ expectations. “We recognise that our performance in the Hastings area must improve, and we are committing to investing and upgrading across the board to get there.” Southern Water apologised to residents at a meeting with residents after the town had been hit by flooding, water outages and sewage issues in recent years.
The water company now plans to spend £40 million to improve facilities in Hastings. The plans would include construction of a new reservoir in Newgate, 25 kilometres of new water mains pipes and better surface water management in Alexandra Park to lessen the risk of flooding. All the plans would be completed between December 2024 and March 2030.
The plans will be formally presented to Hastings Borough Council on Monday, November 11. In October and November 2023 Hastings businesses and homes were evacuated over flooding caused by a burst water main. Earlier this year Southern Water also announced it would be raising water bills by 84 per cent.
Southern Water said the plans will reduce flood risks in the town centre, improve the resilience of its water supply network to cut outages and cut sewage overflows. The plans are subject to Southern Water’s business plan for 2025-2030 being approved by regulator Ofwat. Regulator Ofwat also hit Southern Water with a £31.
9 million fine in October for missing key targets..
