Paul Arnott posted a video on Facebook and this statement: 

Today, I’ve been speaking to Exmouth residents protesting against South West Water, who held a behind-closed-doors Q&A at Exmouth Town Hall this afternoon – with no less than five private security guards. SWW’s failure to properly invest in our infrastructure, and their haphazard and disruptive approach to managing the effective collapse of the sewage network in Exmouth, has been as shocking to me as to any other resident – and I’m determined to see them held to account.

I’d strongly encourage anyone able to come along to Wednesday evening’s Full Council at East Devon’s offices in Honiton, starting at 6pm, to do so – we’ll be considering a strongly-worded motion calling out South West Water’s appalling track record, and trying to get us on the road to fixing things. You can also follow along via the Council’s YouTube channel.

Image from ESCAPE Facebook

Exmouth Journal Staff www.exmouthjournal.co.uk

Hundreds of residents turned up outside Exmouth Town Hall this afternoon to protest about sewage pollution.

Organiser Jo Bee rallied the troops, which included swimmers, environmental groups, Exmouth Quakers and councillors.

Lots of people drove past the protest and tooted their horns in support of the group’s cause.

The protest started at 1.30pm. Around 200 protesters turned up and Exmouth Quakers turned up and started singing sea shanties.

Councillors came out to see what the commotion was; Geoff Jung and Paul Miller were seen outside as well as Paul Arnott, who was supporting the protests.

The aim of today’s protest ‘to make it very clear to SWW that we simply don’t accept the damage they are doing to us, to our environment, and to our tourism. Enough is enough’.

A Facebook group called ESCAPE (End Sewage Convoys And Poollution Exmouth) is open for members of the public to join and find out the latest on sewage pollution in Exmouth and Budleigh.

Paul Arnott told the Journal: “I fully support these protests. I have been told that EDDC have laid on seven security guards inside the town hall as they heard news of the protests.”

Jo Bee added: “We are here today to show to South West Water that enough is enough. This is just the start, with my court case as well standing up to South West Water.”

SWW are hosting a series of coastal community roadshows across the region to share the latest business plan with customers. Today they were in Exmouth and residents decided to gate crash the meeting with a protest outside.

They are explaining to residents how the water and wastewater systems work and explaining more about the plans we have for Exmouth and the surrounding areas.

The meeting is being held from 2pm to 6pm and is fully booked, with a limited supply of tickets.

A motion is being carried through East Devon District Council on Wednesday (February 21) declaring ‘no confidence’ in the company’s sewage management systems.

The motion states that there is ‘widespread concern’ among East Devon residents, and notes ‘with alarm’ that specific measures to improve the capacity of the sewage system, identified in 2010, ‘have not been actioned’

In response to this, South West Water said: “The opinions of our customers matter to us greatly. We are listening and know we have more to do. The purpose of events like our Community Roadshow in Exmouth tomorrow is to hear directly from customers and have the opportunity to discuss any concerns they may have.

“We are investing to help deliver improvements in our environmental performance, and will continue to do all we can to protect our region’s seas and rivers.”