Arrive in Whitstable, saunter through the sights, stride down to the beach, sink into the freezing cold sea and shiver into the waves. “Euphoria” is what you will soon feel, City A.M. is assured by local swimmer Ed Acteson. That’s after the blood-curdling pain subsides, obviously.
The Kent seaside town is a mere hour and 19 minutes train ride from St Pancras. As such both Londoners and locals profit from its seaside charm – chiefly deriving from pebble beaches and open coastline. World famous oysters, pastel coloured seafront houses, vintage shops, art galleries and a good old English castle: Whitstable is one of the most prized visitor destinations – and second home locations – the UK has to offer.
The constituency may boast the only Labour MP in Kent but it is not generally known for political activism – the local arts scene skews more towards beach scene watercolours than anti-government murals.
Yet with enough injustice, ordinary Brits will start to pick up placards, sign petitions and some will even go as far as writing a folk-rock protest song about the “heinous environmental crimes committed by Southern Water”, aptly titled “Swimming in it”.
A tale of sickness…
SOS Whitstable was formed in 2021 by a group of 10 local swimmers (including Acteson) appalled by reports of sewage being spilt by Southern Water directly into the English Channel. 2023 saw a 65 per cent yearly increase in the number of hours sewage was pumped into the sea near Whitstable – 1,070.
Acteson is straight with City A.M. when asked: no, you won’t see sewage floating on the seatop. But wait a few days and you may well have contracted E. coli (the symptoms of which are rarely deadly but........