The effluent hit the fan at Waverley Towers this week when councillors debated a motion to rid the borough of the scourge of Thames Water.

Greens Cllr Steve Williams called for the Government to put the failing company into Special Measures and bring Thames Water back into public ownership.

A frustrated and angry Green Party councillor, Steve Williams, told his colleagues, “Enough is enough.”  The sewage stink was blighting parts of the borough of Waverley—across Alfold and Haslemere’s recreation grounds and bubbling effluent from the sewers in Godalming,  Cranleigh and other parts of the borough.

He presented a diatribe of statistics on how sewage discharges have polluted the country’s and Waverley’s rivers and streams.

Raw sewage was pumped 464,056 times into rivers and streams in 2023.

In Waverley alone, storm overflows discharged sewage for 3,114 hours across 422 incidents.

This is not just a public nuisance; it is an environmental disgrace. The situation is critical.

Decades of gross mismanagement

The disruption to water supplies in Godalming last November and elsewhere in the borough was a stark reminder of the company’s systematic failure. In Godalming alone, residents were without water for five days and had insufficient emergency supplies. In contrast, TW loses 600 million litres daily from leaks – one-quarter of its supply! 

Debt now stands at £19m! Financial instability leaves it unprepared to meet its statutory responsibilities. 

He said Waverley councillors and its staff had worked tirelessly for years to mitigate the impact on its residents and shield them from the worst effects while their bills soared. But now the time has come to act and call for the imposition of Special Measures due to the impact of its failures on Waverley’s public and environmental health.  Cllr John Robini said Haslemere’s recreation ground had been clothed in sewage, and there had been a catalogue of incidents there. He warned:

Haslemere has had enough!”

Cranleigh Cllr Liz Townsend bombarded TW’s CEO with letters over decades about Cranleigh’s deteriorating water infrastructure, leaks, floods, and either no water or low water pressure. She lobbied a succession of former local MPs but got nowhere. Leader Paul Follows said he had watched the disgusting spectacle of sewage bubbling up in a resident’s home on Elmbridge Road.

Cllr Townsend warned that with the government imposing a housing target of 1,481 homes per year, how could councillors look residents in the eye and ask them to accept more development when they can’t flush their toilets and have raw sewage floating around their homes?

However, Jeremy Hunt’s very own Tory bag carrier rattled her bag, saying both Waverley Tory MPs were on the case, sniping that Guildford’s Lib Dem MP Zoe Franklin shouldn’t be included!  Oh, yes, she should,  cried Follows – the villages bordering Waverley, including Wonersh, were most certainly affected.

When will Cllr Austin, the leader of the opposition stop playing politics and concentrate on residents’ concerns? Perhaps when Nelson gets his eye back? Or, more likely, when will she get a seat in Government?

Despite admitting she didn’t have enough water pressure to shower in her Bramley home before the meeting, she and seven colleagues voted against the motion. This included Alfold’s Cllr Kevin DeAnus, who was recently pictured below poking around in Alfold’s poo in a villager’s garden. Ugh!

A couple of other disgruntled Tories followed their leader in supporting only part of the motion. After admitting she might be unpopular, Cllr Janet Crowe said she was right behind Cllr Williams’ motion and would vote because she agreed with every word.

Others argued it was vital to support “every single line of the motion,” including bringing the company back into public ownership, as it would likely collapse anyway. When the borough’s health was at stake, it was better to be proactive than reactive.

The motion passed by 24 votes to eight with four abstentions.