Senedd petition launched to end ‘scandalous’ water charges for park home residents

Emily Price

Residents at a mobile home site have launched a Senedd petition calling on the Welsh Government to grant people living in park homes the legal right to have a water meter installed.

The petition aims to put an end to “excessive and unfair water charges”, which park home residents say leave them paying significantly more than the national average.

Willow Park in Mancot, Flintshire is made up of 159 single and double units and is home to many retirees living on fixed incomes.

Most homes house just one or two residents and have little to no garden space.

‘No incentive’

Residents say they are being charged over £68 a month for water, far exceeding the national average of £39.42.

This is because the site has a single water meter and the site owner divides the total bill equally among all 159 homes, regardless of individual usage.

The Senedd petition calling for residents to have their own individual water meters has been launched by Hawarden and Mancot Councillor, Sam Swash.

He says the current system gives site owners “absolutely no incentive” to fix water leaks, leaving residents to bear the cost of wasted water.

To uncover the true scale of the problem, more than 40 residents paid to install private water meters in their homes and have collected individual usage data over six months.

They say that their findings show that they should be paying an average of £16 a month – a fraction of what they are currently charged.

Leaks

Data gathered by residents from Welsh Water indicates that over 5 million gallons of water are being lost every year due to leaks on the site.

Kenneth Pierce, Chairman of the Willow Park Residents’ Association said: “The data we’ve collected from Welsh Water shows vast amounts of water passing through the main meter throughout the night, when residents are asleep.

“To use the amount of water registered at its peak over the last two years, all 159 homes on the site would have had to flush their toilet 58 times per night. Clearly, this is due to major leaks, and residents are being charged for it.”

Private matter

Residents say that despite appeals to the Welsh Government – no action has been taken whilst Welsh Water says it is a private matter between the residents and the site owner.

Cllr Swash added: “This is both a financial and environmental scandal. Residents are being forced to pay for water they aren’t using.

“Giving park home residents the right to a water meter would bring them in line with most homeowners across Wales.

“It would ensure fair billing, incentivise site owners to maintain infrastructure, and reduce the huge environmental damage caused by vast quantities of leaking water.”

A Welsh Water spokesperson said: “We appreciate the concerns of the residents on sites such as these but this is an issue between them and their landlords.

“The water network on sites is usually private so any leakage beyond our pipe and meter is not the responsibility of Welsh Water.

“The billing agreement between tenants and landlords is a private matter for them.”

The Welsh Government declined to comment but will respond if the petition is referred to ministers by the Senedd petitions committee.