Southern Water CEO and Nick Gibb respond to issues raised at Bognor Regis protest

The petition, issued to Southern Water CEO Lawrence Gosden with more than 500 signatures earlier this year, criticised the water company’s track record on sewage dumping and urged Mr Gosden to ensure Bognor Regis has “the infrastructure and investment it needs to prevent further sewage dumping.”

Meeting with protest organiser Heather Robbins some time after the demonstration, Mr Gosden said Southern Water is set to take a number of positive steps in the months to come.

He told Mrs Robbins that the company is committed to working with local authorities like Arun District Council to deliver rainwater collection solutions in order to reduce the strain on the system and identify mis-plumbed houses throughout the Aldwick area. Southern Water is also piloting a number of schemes to divert rainwater from roads and roofs, which can be extended to other areas if successful.

The petition also asked Gosden to refuse his CEO bonus, which he told Mrs Robbins he has already done.

Protestors have also promised to continue to pressure Southern Water and Nick Gibb, MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, to host a public consultation on the issues.

The petition was also directed at Mr Gibb, whom protestors would like to see take stronger action to hold Southern Water to account. He said: "The government is taking this seriously at a national level, and has laid out plans that will require water companies to deliver their largest ever environmental infrastructure investment, with £56 billion capital investment over 25 years to tackle storm sewage discharges by 2050. Ofwat has also been awarded more power to stop water companies from paying out dividends, as well as to take action against water companies that don’t link dividend payments to performance for customers and the environment."

The responses come after Bognor Regis residents spoke out against sewage dumping with a series of protests: one outside Nick Gibb’s constituency office and another near The Boat Pound in Aldwick, where the bathing water quality was rated ‘poor’ following an Environmental Agency inspection.

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More than five hundred people gather on Bognor Regis seafront to protest continued sewer dumps