In direct response to incidents of no water in Wadhurst, Kent in 2023, we brought forward a £12 million project to increase the connectivity and resilience of our network in the area.
By laying 17 kilometres of new pipeline, we could connect our water treatment works at Bewl with our drinking water storage tanks at Wadhurst and Rotherfield. This would give us greater flexibility to move water around our network during times of disruption.
Work started in April 2024, and is expected to complete in the summer of 2025.
As the project coincided with a mains renewal scheme between Heathfield and Rushlake Green, we opted for a wider stakeholder meeting to discuss the two projects.
A breakfast briefing was held in February 2024 at Bewl Water. We had 16 local councillors in attendance to find out more about the two projects and get answers to their questions.
The stakeholder event was followed with localised drop in sessions and attendance at parish council meetings.
These engagements received positive feedback, with one councillor commenting: “These are essential works, on quite a scale. I’ve attended a number of meetings at which South East Water have presented the scheme and heard councillors’ and residents’ concerns, and have taken them seriously. They’ve engaged with local communities, understand the issues, and I believe are committed to doing everything they are able to keep the disruption and inconvenience to a minimum.”
Throughout the works, stakeholders and residents have been updated by letter and email. To date, eight stakeholder emails have been sent, with an open rate of 41.3 per cent. Midway through the scheme, the introduction of emails to customers via Mailchimp was introduced; to date, two customer emails have been sent, these having an open rate of 81.6 per cent.
Find out more about the project here.