Nusrat Ghani, Sussex Weald MP, recently met with members of the Heathfield Chamber of Commerce and local businesses affected by South East Water’s outages. She heard of the difficult decisions taken by local High Street firms, when faced with having to close their businesses and services and lose income due to the water company’s decision to stem the supply.
Nusrat said: “from cafes to hairdressers, opticians to professional service providers, the impact of South East Water’s decision-making is hitting hard. I heard the emotional stories of businesses having to shut up shop because they could not safely operate. No toilets for staff or customers, no water for drinking. This means no business can carry on, company owners losing money and staff being sent home for the day.
The town’s local council is the first line of enquiry for many local residents and even they weren't kept upto date with the local dire situation. I was disappointed to hear that South East Water’s communications were confusing matters for local residents.
I met many local business with the Chamber, including: Sokada, Melina Joy Opticians, Twin Café and Martinez Hairdressing, all inconvenienced and many of them having to shut up shop and lose income. I will be campaigning for these businesses to receive compensation.
I have also renewed my call on the South East Water boss to leave the comfort of his office and to meet my constituents and tell them what he will do differently. Everyone is bored of hearing statistics, they just want to see action. My South East Water survey is still live, so head to my website and tell me if you have been impacted by recent water outages.”
