Jim Parker: People power prevails where South West Water failed

What next, I hear from the Bay's tourism industry - especially from those trying to make a living in Brixham.

Visitor numbers to the English Riviera are nowhere near where they were pre-Covid and even the most optimistic holiday business owner can't see that changing sometime soon.

Staycation with people holidaying at home did take off for a while but the war in Ukraine, energy bills soaring to hair-raising levels, and the cost of living crisis followed not far after the pandemic.

The sun and warmer times seem to have disappeared (hopefully only for the time being) to make luring visitors to the English Riviera even more challenging . And now we have crypto, a water bug outbreak in Brixham which affected thousands of residents and businesses in the Brixham area weeks ago and has still not been resolved as we speak.

Water supplies contaminated by cryptosporidium made - and still is making - hundreds of people ill and sending out the exact message the Bay could do without at this moment in time. Torbay - and Brixham - is absolutely still open for business but the national headlines have done us no favours at all.

One positive thing to emerge from the alert is the resilient community spirit which did the Bay proud during those dark days of Covid.

I am obliged to Dave Gledhill, from Torbay Communities, for explaining how people have once again rallied to help one another.

Dave says: "Communities come together in a crisis, none more so than in the last couple of weeks in Paignton and Brixham when water supplies were contaminated by cryptosporidium.

"Neighbours helped each other running errands and making sure that everyone had adequate supplies of boiled or bottled water.

"Staff from our charity and voluntary sector were the first to respond. They were already supporting people across the area before the official boil water announcement was made by South West Water ."

Emma Barton, the director of Brixham Does Care whose team helped householders hit by the bug, was distributing bottled water nearly 24 hours before the official announcement.

"We decided rather than waiting to see if SWW would be distributing water, we bought some on the Tuesday and delivered it to some of our most vulnerable service users," she said. 

"Most people we visited just took it in their stride however, there were some who found it difficult to understand. We obviously wish those who have been ill make a speedy recovery. 

"Overall, after the initial outcry, Brixham people came together as we always do, and we think the situation has been handled very well."

At YES Brixham the response was similar with their project manager and fundraising manager, Andrew Wade, saying, “As soon as the ‘boil water’ notice came out, working with the Brixham Community Builder, Helen Ambler, we contacted our most vulnerable people and made sure they were on SWW vulnerable customer list and had access to a supply of bottled water. 

“The demand for food parcels went up probably due to cash flow issues, with people on credit meters using more electricity than usual boiling kettles. Another factor is the psychological effects of the crisis triggering ‘hoarding’ in vulnerable people. 

“People have been coming into our drop-in The Edge to receive factual trustworthy advice. We have been able to debunk internet misinformation.”

Torbay Communities had their dedicated Community Builders, Helen Ambler and Gill Knight on the ground in both Brixham and affected areas of Paignton to identify vulnerable householders ensuring they had water and were put onto the SWW priority list. 

The Torbay Community Helpline which is staffed by a combination of volunteers and paid call handlers also provided advice for callers.

Helen said: “Brixham residents and those in the affected parts of Paignton have shown a fantastic community spirit supporting each other.

“I couldn’t be prouder to be the community builder for Brixham. Everyone in the community gets stuck in to help each other in their hours of need. My phone has not stopped ringing with people worried about vulnerable people they know that they couldn’t get to personally.”

There were further examples of community spirit shining through, with businesses stepping up to provide bottled water before the distribution centres were set up at Freshwater car park, Broadsands car park, and the Churston car boot sale site.

In Brixham's town centre mum-of-three, 34-year-old Mary Allwood and a local businessman from Torbay Fruit and Vegetables in Fore Street, Brixham, joined forces to buy bottled water and in the first 48 hours, handed out £750 worth. 

Dave Gledhill said: Communities in Torbay have, as they did during COVID, proved that they are resilient and supportive. In the words of Andrew Wade: “Brixham is, as we all know, a tight knit ‘can do’ community and, as in the past, has come together to support our most vulnerable citizens.“

It is fabulous to see the community once again coming together in the face of adversity. As for crypto and South West Water. I have a feeling their legal team will have their hands full in the coming weeks and months....