Wednesbury flooding: MP says South Staffs Water let down residents

Tipton and Wednesbury MP Antonia Bance has spoken out about South Staffs Water’s response to the flooding that caused major disruption across her constituency this weekend.

Ms Bance has slammed the water company, calling their response to a water main that burst on Leabrook Road, Wednesbury on November 2 “too slow, ineffective and secretive”.

The burst water main led to flooding in the area and saw hundreds of homes be without water and electricity over the course of the weekend.

A second water main also burst on Saturday on Dick Sheppard Avenue in Tipton.

Today, Ms Bance has met with the Environment Minister, MP Emma Hardy to voice concerns about South Staffs Water’s response to the incident.

She said: “Today I’ve been meeting with the minister and have written to the water company to find out why their response was so slow.

“People knew about the burst main before 9am, but water distribution didn’t start until 10pm which was not only very late, but it also left people without water all day.

“Local people swung into action, but South Staffs Water should have done better.

“I’m going to be raising the issue in parliament in the coming weeks.”

Ms Bance is glad to now be communicating with senior staff from South Staffs Water (Image: Antonia Bance MP Facebook) Ms Bance said more than 100 residents who have been affected by the burst water main have filled out a survey about South Staffs Water’s response efforts and, after going over responses so far, says “vulnerable residents didn’t get the support they needed”.

In a statement published on her social media yesterday, Ms Bance said: “When the deadline South Staffs Water told residents for water supply being restores didn’t come through, communication became non-existent.

“We then lost confidence that water was going to be restored and took immediate action to set up a community space at The Sons of Rest in Wednesbury, which was run by my staff, councillors and volunteers.

“I want to thank all the volunteers, councillors, my staff and all the frontline workers who responded, including police, firefighters and engineers for stepping up and going beyond, where South Staffs Water let us down.

“We are proud to be Sandwell, our community response was incredible.”

Ms Bance also brought into question how this is the second time in just four years that a water main has burst on Leabrook Road, saying “residents are pretty angry and have every right to be.”

The MP said a significant clean up job now faces the area and said she and her staff will be “going round every street” to ensure things are restores.

In response to Ms Bance’s claims, a spokesperson from South Staffs Water said: “We would first like to apologise to any customers who were not satisfied with our response, and we welcome their feedback.

 “We were disappointed to hear Antonia Bance’s comment and do not feel it reflects the hard work of our front-line teams who worked tirelessly over the weekend to return supplies to customers as quickly and safely as possible.

Flood water was waist deep in some areas of Leabrook Road (Image: West Midlands Fire Service) “As with any incident, however, there are lessons to learn.

“We accept that customers wanted more frequent updates and will take that learning forward.

“Our team liaised with the MP’s team to provide them with updates, and we used our communication channels to provide more frequent updates for customers.

“We welcome any future questions Mrs Bance may have and look forward to working with her team.”

As water services return to normal, residents have been told they may see discolouration in their water, and that it should not be drunk or used in cooking.

They have been told to run their taps until water runs clear before using any water.  

This comes after news of a third water main having burst in a separate incident in nearby Bloxwich, which has been causing disruption today.