Protest to “Save our Seas” at Whitstable

By Lauren Croud

The local activist group SOS Whitstable turned Tankerton beach into a ‘crime-scene’ at the weekend to campaign against water companies for dumping sewage in their seas.

The group say it was their “biggest protest yet” with over 1,500 people turning up to support and take part in the protest.

The co-founder of the group said that big steps are needed to call for action on nationalising the water industry and their work in doing so is not over yet.

The group are determined to make a change and are still ongoing in their attempts to overturn the government decision to make water companies privatised.

They are in frequent talks with various ministers, politicians, and water industry insiders to lobby the government.

Currently, their petition to nationalise the water sector has almost hit 200,000 signatures, making it one of the biggest petitions in UK history. Ed Acteson, Co-founder of SOS Whitstable is determined the petition will exceed 200,000 signatures, following a successful weekend of protests at Tankerton beach in Whitstable.

The protesters returned to the shore one year after their previous protest as they proclaimed, “nothing has changed,” despite twelve months passing by.

The event was promoted on their social media page, with guest speakers and charities sharing the news of the event. Protesters were asked to wear red, with an array of red clothing and flags taking over the Tankerton shore.

Placards were made for the protestors with slogans such as ‘Stop The Plop’ and ‘Stop Dumping Sewage.’

Co-founder of SOS Whitstable, Ed Acteson said: “The atmosphere was electric. We designed the protest in a way that would create energy through our constant turnover of guests and our hosting…”

Protestors who attended were encouraged to wear red. The protestors formed a barricade on the beach for five minutes out of protest and wild swimmers swam the sea to form a symbolic wave.

Protest attendee, Doreen Wildman said: “We had a great afternoon making our voices heard.”

Whitstable is a famous seaside town and is highly reliant on the beach and sea to thrive economically.

Mr Acteson said: “Our oysters and seafood restaurants are Internationally known, and the reputational damage suffered by Southern Water’s sewage pollution is profound.

“Our protest… wasn’t just important to protect the environment and the health of swimmers, it was important to protect Whitstable as a whole.”

Canterbury MP, Rosie Duffield attended the protest. She expressed that it was essential that, “the companies and the shareholders pay the price and not that the price of all of this goes onto customers’ bills.” 

Southern Water have responded to the actions of the protest. They released a statement that said: “Protecting the environment is a key priority for us and we are leading the water industry in developing solutions to reduce our reliance on permitted storm overflows… We already engage extensively with campaign groups and will continue to do that at every available opportunity.”

Mr Acteson said they will continue to lobby the government. He also hinted that they have another secret stunt coming up, which will be revealed soon.