Margate councillor Rob Yates has accused Southern Water of not carrying out basic maintenance after finding lumps of metal fencing on the beach at Palm Bay, which have come from Foreness Point pumping station.
Cllr Yates and fellow Labour Party councillor Heather Keen say the pumping station is missing significant parts of its fence which have been carried on to the beach.
Cllr Yates said: “When going for a walk along our beaches you do not expect to find sharp aluminium metal scattered along the sand, but that is exactly what I found this weekend. This is unfortunately further evidence that Southern Water is not capable of carrying out basic maintenance on the facilities that we all rely upon and a significant health and safety risk.
“I have informed Southern Water and will be handing the fencing pieces to Southern Water’s Director of Operations Tim McMahon on Tuesday night so that he can see it for himself, and asking the Director if we can expect his resignation if we encounter further issues caused by lack of maintenance in Thanet.”
A Southern Water spokesperson said: “We are sorry that pieces of the metal fence from Margate Pumping Station were found to have fallen onto the beach at Foreness Point.
“The fence was repaired on Monday, and we are investigating how this happened. We would like to thank members of the public for bringing this to our attention, and we are taking this report very seriously.”
Thanet council officers have been notified about the debris.
Southern Water’s Tim McMahon will be attending a public drop in session today (March 14) at St Andrews Community Hall, Reading Street, from 3pm to 5.30pm.
Staff from different departments will also be present to answer queries about the water networks, compensation payments and priority support services.
Mr McMahon will then attend a Thanet council scrutiny meeting to give a presentation to councillors to discuss residents’ concerns regarding water supply interruptions in parts of the district. The meeting starts at 7pm. A demonstration is being held by residents and groups including Westgate and Garlinge Action Group, outside the council offices from 6pm.
Cllr Keen said: “With so many Broadstairs residents affected by the water outages, Thanet Labour asked TDC for an urgent meeting to discuss the situation in Broadstairs.
“This meeting is finally happening and we believe that many residents have finally started receiving £120-£140 in compensation.
“If you have been affected, please do contact Southern Water to ask for the compensation that you are entitled to. We will be quizzing Southern Water at the Scrutiny meeting to find out why there has been a delay in making payments.”
