Recently we have had some seriously worrying infrastructure incidents affect parts of the constituency.

Over a year ago, Bramley residents started experiencing a horrible smell of petrol. With the help of local councillors Jane Austin and Michael Goodridge the source of the problem was traced to the local petrol station, but frustratingly the problem has still not yet been totally resolved. 

Although the petrol leak has been sealed, there is still a strong smell of petrol fumes along the High Street, which is only worsened after rain. Petrol is polluting the village stream and has made its way into pipework in a couple of houses, which means their supply is now also contaminated and they can only use bottled water.

On Friday I therefore met senior managers from the Environment Agency alongside Jane and Michael for the latest update. They are on the case with their investigation, working towards eventual prosecution. The petrol station will now clean up, but this is a complex process and will take many months. But local residents are understandably concerned– there is major pollution happening on their doorstep, which could have an impact on biodiversity, and quite frankly they are rightly fed up with the smell. 

I have therefore been in touch with Asda’s CEO again to ensure Bramley residents are fully supported because we need it to be dealt with as quickly as possible. 

All of this comes on top of the water issues we had last month, which particularly affected Bramley, Godalming, and surrounding villages. Thousands of people were left with limited or no water supply after a relatively mild storm and it took almost a week for it all to be switched back on. We need to get to the bottom of this issue too and ensure that there is better emergency planning for bottled water stations. 

So I am hosting a public meeting at Surrey University with Angela Richardson and one of the co-CEOs of Thames Water, Alastair Cochran, this Friday, December 15 at 5.15pm. Alastair will bring members of his technical team and there will also be senior representatives from Surrey County Council there. 

Do visit my social media or get in touch with my office if you would like to book a (free) place to attend. 

I am absolutely determined to make sure that both of these problems do not happen again. This time Bramley was hit by a double whammy, but the issues could have struck any part of Surrey, whether Farnham, Haslemere, or anywhere else. Of course if you ever experience something similar, do get in touch with my office and my team and I will do all we can to help.