SOME victims of August’s major water outage in Flintshire have received just £1.32 each in compensation due to specific guidelines around park home sites.
The major pipe burst left hundreds of residents across the county without water for three days from August 14-17.
Affected residents typically received between £200 and £250 each as compensation for the problem.
Residents on Willow Park in Mancot – who live in permanent static mobile home-style properties – are treated as a single home according to water regulator Ofwat. As a result they had to split their £210 compensation between 159 households on the site.
The reason is the site has a single supply of water divided between the homes. Hawarden and Mancot Cllr Sam Swash has now branded the payout ‘unjust’ and is calling on Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water and Ofwat to change their policies on park home sites.
“Residents across Flintshire endured three days without running water and were rightly compensated – yet Welsh Water thinks people living on Willow Park deserve just £1.32 for the exact same hardship,” he said.
“Their laughable compensation offer isn’t even enough to buy a bottle of water. It is scandalous, insulting and utterly indefensible.”
The dispute is not the first issue residents of Willow Park have had regarding their water supply. There have been long-standing concerns about the site’s water infrastructure which led to residents launching a Senedd petition earlier this year demanding a legal right to water meters.
The Residents’ Association estimates that their park home community have collectively paid more than £350,000 for water lost through leaks – water they never used and could not control.
“This is not the first time that residents of Willow Park have been disadvantaged by Ofwat’s recharging regulations,” said Cllr Swash.
“They allow residents to be charged for leaks and then ensure they aren’t compensated properly when outages occur.”
He has called on Ofwat to urgently review the rules governing recharging on single-supply sites and for Welsh Water and the regulator to put right what he believes is an obvious injustice.
A Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water spokesperson said: “We did compensate account holders that were affected by the supply disruption.
“While we sympathise with the residents, we provide a single supply to the site. The billing agreement and supply arrangements is a private matter for the landlord and tenants.”
An Ofwat spokesperson added: “We appreciate the concerns raised by park home residents and fully understand the frustration this situation has caused.
“While Ofwat sets maximum prices, we do not have powers to resolve disputes regarding the resale of water, as these are considered to be a private matter.
“The UK and Welsh Governments will shortly publish a white paper ahead of plans to legislate for water reform across Wales and England. This presents an opportunity to amend existing legislation to better protect customers and ensure fairer outcomes.
“We will continue to engage with Welsh government and stakeholders to highlight these issues and support improvements that benefit all customers.”
