Water company confirms £80m investment for town

Southern Water wants to discuss improvement plans, water bills and wastewater

Southern Water has announced an £80m investment plan for an East Sussex town.

Hastings will benefit from Southern Water's investment following a series of floods, outages and concerns over sewage spills.

The company is hosting a drop-in event in the town until 18:30 BST on Thursday to discuss the proposals - which depend on regulator Ofwat agreeing to bill rises that were proposed in July.

Tim Mcmahon, managing director for water at Southern Water, said:  “We know our performance in Hastings hasn’t been good enough and we need to take action.”

In May, a burst water main caused over 32,000 properties to lose their water supply

He explained that the water company worked closely with Hastings Borough Council and since a public meeting in July it had made plans to tackle the issues raised.

Of the £80m, half will go towards disconnecting surface water from foul water, and the other half is likely to go towards replacing the pipe that burst in May and further work.

Southern Water has said businesses and community groups in the Hastings and St Leonards area are also receiving a share of a £1m goodwill fund following the weather-related flooding and loss of water supply incidents.

In May, a burst water main caused over 32,000 properties to lose their water supply for the large majority of the bank holiday weekend.

There was also heavy flooding in October 2023, which caused the evacuation of the town's shopping centre.

Mr Mcmahon added: "This community has faced both weather-related floods and a major loss of water supply, and we have seen the toll this has taken on local businesses and households.

"We accept that we need to put things right so far as the community and businesses in Hastings and St Leonards are concerned, and therefore want to give something back as a meaningful goodwill gesture."

A heavy flood in October 2023 caused the evacuation of the shopping centre

Hastings town centre manager John Bownas said investment was "exactly" what the town needed.

"There are still issues and there is still work to be done to really future-proof Hastings," he said.

Members of staff from six teams, including the water supply and water network team, are on hand to speak to customers.

Customers also have the opportunity to hear about plans for infrastructure and service improvements during 2025-30.