Memorandum submitted by Pippa Woods
I am a farmer with my own water supply, which
is one of the reasons I manage to remain solvent. I write on behalf
of those less fortunate.
The price South West Water charges for water
is quite iniquitous. I understand it is a French company, so it
no doubt enjoys making its British consumers suffer!
It is partly the fault of our government which
is forcing SWW to bear the whole cost of "cleaning up the
beaches" for the benefit of tourists from all over Britain,
indeed the world. The cost of these sewage works should surely
fall on the whole nation, not just the local inhabitants? I believe
the SWW area has about the lowest average wage in England. If
not the lowest, it is low.
(It may well be said that we benefit from the
tourist industry. But in fact it is a lousy "industry",
paying low wages, usually part time at that, and causing many
physical and financial problems to the local inhabitants.)
To illustrate: A pensioner I know has a grandson
who visits her a lot as his own home is most unsatisfactory. She
does not worry about the cost of feeding him—what she worries
about is the cost of his baths! And not the cost of the electricity
which heats the bathwater, but of the actual water used. She is
well aware that the more water used, the more she will also have
to pay as a sewerage charge.
So this is a plea to do anything you can to
induce South West Water to charge less. If possible, persuade
central government that it should contribute to the cost of sewerage
which, though seemingly local, in fact serves the whole nation.
Another point is that SWW is so inefficient
that it is often fined for careless pollution. Fining seems pointless
unless the money can be taken from the wages of the actual people
at fault. Otherwise it simply increases the water bills further,
adding to the poverty of SWW's customers.
September 2004
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