Production was severely hampered at Cheesemakers of Canterbury during a recent heatwave, after the company was left without water by South East Water for several days – the second time it has happened in less than a year.
The Kent-based business met with the representatives of South East Water and local MP Helen Whately in July after its taps ran dry for five days in May. This followed a six-day outage last summer.
The water company has been heavily criticised for a series of supply issues, which have left thousands in Kent and Sussex without water for many days at a time. The issue has been blamed on hot weather, failing infrastructure, and demand from new housing developments. South East Water’s Chairman and CEO resigned earlier this year after a damning report by MPs. It is also set to pay a £30.5m penalty following a ruling by watchdog Ofwat.
Cheesemakers of Canterbury had to stop making in July last year, just as it geared up for Christmas production, when it would normally have made 320kg of cheese. In May, the company managed to keep production going at reduced capacity by filling up milk tankers and old churns with water.
“The biggest thing is not knowing when it’s going to happen,” said owner Jane Bowyer. “If we get some warning then we can try to store water.”
At the meeting with South East Water, Conservative MP Helen Whately called for compensation for businesses, more certainty and notice about outages and backup supplies.
Rachel Baker, head of business customer services at South East Water, apologised to affected businesses, adding they had been compensated.
This article first appeared in the August issue of Fine Food Digest.
