Water Leak Nightmare For Ventnor Residents

A group of Ventnor homeowners are wondering when their nightmare will end after a Southern Water pipe leak nearly a year ago damaged homes and gardens.

Some are still waiting for compensation payouts and are increasingly frustrated by the inaction of the water company.

In December 2023 a water main leak was reported on Ocean View Road in the town.

As a result of the leak, which wasn’t fixed for more than two months, a number of gardens collapsed in properties in Ocean View Road (numbers 19-27).

The five homeowners are left without access to their gardens, which in some cases have dropped between five and six feet.

Their gardens are not insured under their buildings policies but they feel Southern Water should admit guilt and step in to rectify the damage to their properties.

One homeowner, Peter Westmore, 43, said:

“After the initial problems here, police told us we may have to evacuate.

"Luckily that was not the case but the bottom of my rear garden is now unusable.

“My shed is unsafe and my neighbour’s garden is down the hill.”

Mark Egan, who owns two of the five properties, one of them a holiday let, said:

“This has badly affected five homes and it is down to Southern Water to sort it out.

“The effects of this are rippling out. I have had to cancel 30-40 holiday let bookings during 2024 and I can’t take any for 2025 as we just don’t know when this will be sorted.

“It is costing me and the town thousands but it is also costing cleaners and contractors I would normally use.

“It is also damaging the reputation of the Isle of Wight, as people who would have come on holiday think it is slipping into the sea.

“Although this is far from the truth in our area, the situation needs sorting quickly as it has gone on too long.”

Mark said the water firm were not communicating proactively, the person managing the case for the loss adjuster had changed three times and the homeowners were at their wits’ end.

He said:

“We need an admission of guilt from Southern Water that the leak caused this problem.

"Otherwise, in future it will be very hard for us to get buildings insurance on our properties. They will be unfairly blighted.”

Another effect of the leak was that down the hill in Zig Zag Road, a retaining wall collapsed on the boundary of Tower House, a property belonging to David and Rachel Higgs.

They say the wall, which faces part of the natural cliff at the back of their property, was in good repair and there was no reason for it to collapse.

In February, David and Rachel instructed geotechnical experts and structural engineers, who found the Southern Water four-inch main on Ocean View Road was still leaking water, which was running through the grounds of their home, Tower House, and below the 14 tonnes of spoil from the collapsed wall.

At that time, soon after the unrelated landslips in the Bonchurch area, their wall collapse was reported in the media as being another landslip, with no mention of the water leak.

Since these events, it has just been a waiting game for David and Rachel, who have been without heating on the ground floor of their home since the leak, due to heaving of their floor.

Southern Water have not yet accepted responsibility for the damage to Tower House despite numerous visits from surveyors and loss adjusters.

David said:

“It is totally unacceptable that we are looking at it being well into 2025 before something happens.

"Our insurers have accepted our claim but Southern Water are inactive.

“We just want our home and our wall returned to normal. None of this was the fault of us or our neighbours.”

The residents say they are now asking Southern Water to do the following:

• Admit responsibility for the damage caused by the leak.
• Provide fair compensation to affected homeowners.
• Take immediate action to repair the damage and prevent future incidents.
• Improve communication with affected residents.