Distrust lingers among Brixham residents after 'unconvincing' South West Water parasite outbreak meeting

A “huge level of distrust” remains between Brixham residents and South West Water (SWW), after the utilities company’s Chief Executive held her first public meeting with residents since a parasite infected the town’s water supply in May.

The meeting, in which all media was banned from attending and a strict no recording or filming policy was enforced by five security guards, saw Chief Executive Susan Davy answer predominantly pre-submitted questions over the Cryptosporidium outbreak in the town.

The outbreak, which began in May saw hundreds fall ill and thousands be put under a ‘boil water’ notice.

While SWW has said that those affected are entitled to compensation up to £265, many residents say the money is not enough given the long-term health and economic impacts and others say they are still yet to receive anything.

Residents report that many are still experiencing symptoms, and some are still being referred to hospital. One resident is reportedly having to use a nappy since contracting the parasite.

Tanya Matthews of Ocean Drive says she is still ill with the parasite months after the outbreak and knows at least three others experiencing symptoms.

“I don't think I'll ever touch the tap water again,” she said.

“I want Susan Davy to come to my house and drink a pint of water in front of us.”

Tanya said that SWW came to her house to test her water in July, but could not give her the results due to legal reasons.

“The accountability and communication throughout this has been terrible. It’s so frustrating the way that they are not listening to us, there is a huge level of distrust between us and SWW and they have neglected their duties.”

Glen Smail lives on Mudstone Lane in Brixham. He was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2015, a chronic condition that causes widespread pain and tenderness in the body as well as fatigue and cognitive problems.

Having not got the initial notice in May, Glen caught Cryptosporidium and was ill for three days. He says the ordeal badly exacerbated his kidney problems, for which he’ll soon need surgery.

“I’ll never trust my water again. What has been done here should not happen to anybody on the planet. What they’ve put me through is absolutely disgusting. I don’t want their pity, they have no idea what’s happened. I knew I wouldn’t get any truth today.”

Glen called for further compensation.

“Money won’t fix what’s happened, but it’s the least they can do,” he added.

South Hams district councillor Ged Yardy (Lib Dem), who was in the meeting said that a legal investigation was preventing much of the data people were asking for from being released.

“That causes me concern,” he said.

“Apparently there are tens of thousands of valves which exist in the countryside around here, which we are not able to obtain any information about. It’s quite clear that the residents feel they have potentially been lied to or that information could have been deleted.

“I do appreciate that SWW is attempting to correct the situation, and is taking some action to do that, but overall I feel disappointed with the exercise this evening.

He added: “Susan has been awarded a significant pay rise for what I would see as a foreseeable, preventable accident. I would like to see that we learn from the lessons and there should be some sort of Post Office Horizon-style inquiry to reveal the details.”

Caroline Voaden, MP for South Devon (Lib Dem) was also on the panel. She said that SWW had heard some “uncomfortable truths” at the meeting.

"I felt it was really important that Susan Davy, as chief executive, came to Brixham so she could hear for herself people’s concerns and the questions they haven’t had answered."

She said that she supported allowing media into the meeting and called the decision to restrict coverage “unfortunate”.

“I think part of the problem we have here in the community is that there's been a very controlled PR line all the way through this episode, and I think there just needs to be a bit more openness, honesty and trust with the community. It's not the way I would have organised this meeting.”

Although the event never reached capacity, SWW said the reason the press were not allowed into the meeting was because there was “restricted space”.

Susan Davy, CEO said: “We will continue to do all we can to support the Brixham community following the cryptosporidium incident earlier this year, and we were pleased to meet with some local residents last night to answer questions and address concerns alongside MP Caroline Voaden.

“While the cryptosporidium outbreak was a rare event, we have and continue to take it extremely seriously. We hope today’s event helped provide reassurance that South West Water is doing everything necessary to protect the health of our customers and prevent such incidents from occurring again.

“Our work does not stop here. We are determined to rebuild trust in Brixham and beyond, and we will not rest until we have restored confidence in the services we provide.”