Water Supplies Fail Again! This Time Over Christmas

Published on: 26 Dec, 2023
Updated on: 26 Dec, 2023

Water supplies have again failed in the Guildford and Waverley area. Homes in the villages of Bramley, Chilworth, Shalford and Wonersh have been affected but are reported now to be being restored.

Cllr Catherine Houston (Lib Dem, Shalford) contacted The Guildford Dragon NEWS to say: “The water went off at 8am and there was no news by 11am.”

Al Cochrane

Interim CEO at Thames Water Al Cochrane told Jeremy Hunt, MP for Surrey South West: “I am really sorry you are experiencing low water pressure or no water – I know how disruptive and inconvenient this can be, especially on Boxing Day.”

Mr Hunt said it was GU4 and GU5 postcodes that were affected and that he was beside himself “with frustration that this was happening *again* and over Christmas.”

Cllr Catherine Houston

But Catherine Houston, a Lib Dem borough councillor for Shalford, was unhappy with the MP’s response, she said: “Jeremy Hunt saying he is “beside himself with frustration” when he actively ducks any vote on Thames Water in House of Commons is beyond belief.

“It only needs the ability to use words and pass legislation to sort out the broken mess that is Thames Water and Mr Hunt is lucky enough to be able to do both.

“So my advice to him is that he should stop spouting off on social media and use his power for the good of residents rather than keep enabling greedy Thames Water board members and shareholders who are stripping out any profits and refusing to invest in maintenance and infrastructure.”

Local MPs Angela Richardson and Jeremy Hunt at the recent public meeting about the major water outage incident in November.

Later Mr Hunt posted ” Have been liaising with interim co-CEO Al Cochrane. The source of the issue has been isolated and approximately 200 homes in the Hornhatch Lane area of Chilworth will be without supply while the mains is isolated to assess and fix the issue.

“Homes in Shalford, Bramley and Wonersh should now be seeing a slow return of water pressure. Please let Angela Richardson MP or me know if you continue to experience issues and we will feed this back.”

The South West Surrey MP and Chancellor of the Exchequer later told The Dragon: “Massively frustrating and a real nightmare on Boxing Day for some families… I have been speaking to Thames Water throughout the morning and this just confirms my view we urgently need the promised upgrade in the local water infrastructure.”

The following message has been posted on the Thames Water website:

See more articles on local water supply issues here.

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