“Get your act together” – Council Leader’s message to Thames Water

Dear Chris Weston,

I’m contacting you today – on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of residents that I’m fortunate enough to serve – with a simple message: Get your act together.

Caledonian Road is at the heart of our borough, and is a hustling, bustling street filled with gloriously diverse residents and businesses.

But on Tuesday, life on Caledonian Road was turned upside down, as water from a burst main filled the streets. The scenes on the street resembled a disaster movie, with emergency services in boats rushing to rescue residents from their properties.

And this could have been prevented, had it not been for years of Thames Water neglect and inaction.

As a council, we’ve been calling for years for you to improve your infrastructure, to prevent flooding and disruption, and yet not enough has been done. In the meantime, bills for vulnerable residents have increased, along with Thames Water profits.

On Tuesday, over 14,000 people were left without a drop of water for hours on end.

You refer to these people as customers; we refer to them as residents. They’re real people, whose lives have been turned completely upside down through no fault of their own. Families have lost priceless possessions, businesses have had to close their doors, vulnerable people were left without access to water and power for hours on end.

Speaking to people in and around Caledonian Road, it’s striking that the people they’ve seen on the ground in the aftermath of the flood have been council staff and the emergency services: not Thames Water staff.

If it hadn’t been for the efforts of our incredible council staff and the London Fire Brigade in supporting residents and cleaning our streets, the situation would have been even worse.

We may have been more forgiving if this had been the first time that an issue with Thames Water had impacted our residents in this way. But in the last decade, we’ve seen major flooding in the Angel, Hornsey Road, and Canonbury Street. In each case, we’ve heard from residents that have had their homes ruined, their priceless possessions lost, and their mental health severely impacted, and businesses have had to close with people losing their livelihoods.

To add insult to injury, they’ve then had to wait months to have their insurance claims paid out.

We’ve heard far too many apologies from Thames Water over the years, we need to see action to treat these people as human beings.

Our call to you now is simple:

• Support residents and businesses on Caledonian Road – ensure that insurance claims are paid out quickly, so those that have lost out from Thames Water negligence are appropriately recompensed.
• Fix your infrastructure, to prevent further leaks. We need Thames Water infrastructure brought up to the 21st century standards and fit for the future, to protect the residents of Islington.
• When leaks happen, support people on the ground, respond effectively and improve communications.

On Tuesday, it took hours for the issue to be addressed. When support did come it was woefully ineffective – with residents and businesses being left without vital supplies for hours.

It’s bad enough that Thames Water profits – significantly – from people’s need for water, but the disgraceful service that you provide is unacceptable.

We’ve had enough havoc and disruption: Get your act together, and start putting people before profits.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Una O’Halloran,
Leader of Islington Council