What a shambles of a week, flooding at the end of last week, water turned off this week due to a catalogue of issues. Unbelievable!
South East Water have a lot to answer for.
Large parts of Maidstone were left without water for days. Others suffered intermittent supply or dangerously low pressure. Some schools were left with no option but to close, forcing families to juggle childcare and work commitments at very short notice.
Bottled water stations were set up across the Borough, and many emergency and community groups leapt into action, some taking the matter into their own hands and setting up water distribution points of their own.
Amid the mayhem, it was truly heart warming to see communities come together. I’ve heard countless stories of people delivering water to vulnerable neighbours, checking in on those living alone, and offering help wherever they could. One good thing to come out of a crisis is often the reminder of just how strong and compassionate our local community really is.
That said, goodwill and neighbourly spirit should never be a substitute for reliable infrastructure. Residents deserve answers, accountability, and, most importantly, assurances that this kind of disruption will not become the norm.
Yet whilst I and others are fuming in anger and frustration over the issue, I as Mayor visited one of the bottle distribution points at the Mote Leisure Centre to say thank you for the staff trying their best to help. Some of them have received great abuse: they are only doing the job to support the situation, they do not work as employees of South East Water, so they deserve our praise not rudeness.
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