The Shelley Tasker Show

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Broadcasts live every Wednesday at 7:00p.m. uk time on Radio Soapbox: http://radiosoapbox.com

part 2 talking with Mel Sheridan


Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Shelley Tasker Show on Radio Soapbox.com. It's good to have your company. Tonight's guest is Mel Sheridan, returning for part 2 of her story. Mel shares her ongoing battle with Southwest Water and the council over issues with her house and the surrounding area. She recounts her experiences from 2016, detailing the incompetence and negligence she faced, including her house deteriorating due to water issues, overweight trucks hitting her house, and the council's failure to address the problems. Mel also discusses the historical context of the water systems in her area, dating back to the 1800s, and the challenges she faced in getting the authorities to take responsibility. Despite numerous meetings, investigations, and even court cases, Mel's struggle continues as she seeks justice and resolution for herself and her neighbours. This episode highlights the systemic issues within local authorities and the impact on residents' lives. Tune in to hear Mel's compelling story and her fight for justice.

[00:00:59] Unknown:

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Shelley Tasker Show here coming out of Radio Soapbox.com.   It's good to have your   company. Today's date is Wednesday, 10th July 2024.   So   tonight's guest is Mel Sheridan, who was on last week. That was a part 1, and there was so much to cover.   Hopefully, we'll cover the majority of it in this week's show. So welcome to part 2. Good evening, Mel. How are you doing?  

[00:01:29] Unknown:

Hi, Shelley. I'm good.  

[00:01:31] Unknown:

Good. Good. Good to hear it. So let's do a recap of where we got to last week just to give the listeners  

[00:01:45] Unknown:

road sinking Yeah. To   me writing to officer   151   in November   2016.   That's when I realized that Mike Peters, you know, he was sending me off. You know, it was just wasn't going anywhere.   And I'd also been groomed for 9 months by Southwest Water going to meetings   and them saying that they wanted to settle, but they didn't wanna deal with the pipes. So   so I'd like to talk to 1 part 1. Yeah. To do  

[00:02:16] Unknown:

with your house,   being,   what's the word, capsidin almost,   deteriorating by water coming onto your house, your house sinking,  

[00:02:26] Unknown:

the rain being I mean, that's and the beauty of this whole story is that, you know, in 2013,   the house was under   pinned. So the house actually hasn't moved since. It's been it's structurally sound.   It's a subterranean   threat that's running through the area, not under my house. It's in the area, which I can prove would be But leading up to that, you've had all these problems, bits of your house falling down and stuff like that.   And just levels of incompetence that's just, you know, embarrassing.   Yeah. Yeah. So, and also, like, I'd like to mention also, which I didn't mention last week,   was, the trucks, the overweight trucks actually did hit my house twice.  

And I've actually got that on the record of the BIPA   SAR.   That the trucks hit my house, but we're not what they do is they ignore you.   And then eventually you get them to come out and then they say, oh, well, it's   historical.   Oh, right. It's historical. It's an historical event. You know? Well,   it's only historical because you've ignored me for the last time. Yeah. Yeah.   And to say that they're still those trucks will be coming down tomorrow morning again.   Nothing's changed. So the only time the truck stopped   was when Brian Skinner   So we'll go into this section now, which is the,   so I've written to officer 151.  

I had the pincer movement from both accounts on the water board threatening with court at the same time when they both realized that I'd run out of money for solicitors.   So I've been to Kath Robinson at 151,   sent all the evidence.   She's opened up the case. Okay? So we'll go from there.   So   on the 1st March 2017,   I and my neighbors,   along with   a charter surveyor   and   with   Mike Peters again, Love Day Jenkins,   and Georgina Scofield,   who is the hell archivist. She's got so much evidence on the history of stuff.   So there's 12 of us in a meeting at the White Hart Hotel   on the 1st March   2017.  

And this is a start of the investigation.   So this is where it just becomes ridiculous. So   they start this investigation,   bearing in mind, they've got nothing to give me. So   at the last minute on this meeting on the 1st March,   Southwest Water pulled out.   They always pull out of every meeting Right. At the last minute. They never attend. They should have attended and they didn't.   So, we started this whole, thing. I'm hoping that the council can give me   some paperwork   and, you know, we can work out what this is.   And I think months go by, it's really slow. It's like, you'll get   8 months will go by. Right. And then they'll come out and they'll do some water testing. So   this is the first date of the water test that the council did,   on the 8th June   2017.  

So this is like, you know, couple of months later, they do the first water test. This is really interesting. I won't say the names of the the numbers of the houses, but   the test on the pipe itself, this 1 that's the anomaly,   the free chlorine is naught point naught naught 4 megs,   and the total chlorine is naught.0   5 megs. Okay?   The 3 houses   in the terrace,   then the chlorination levels are bouncing all over the place. So that 1 will say naught 0.13   megs in 1 house.   The house next door to it will say 3 chlorine   naught.naught   7 megs.  

And then my 1 is naught point naught 2.   So it shows that there is a disparity   in the feeds because   why would those chlorinations be jumping all over the place? Because normally, if it comes from a mains,   the level is set Yeah. When it when it when it leaves the depot.   Okay?   So that was the first 1. So we thought that was a bit odd. So I was sort of, like, surmising that maybe mine was mixing with something else,   which ties in with the 2006   water meter   when they couldn't find my feed, and they put me from next door,   which means that the previous feed could still be this 1 that's under the house.  

So they do this this sample,   and then it goes on for about another 8 months   of them not bringing anything to the table. We have meetings in my studio in the garden.   And now by this time, the EA,   Graham Winter, who was a Labour candidate,   amazing man.   He works for the EA Waste,   and he was really interested in the story and was coming to the meetings and giving his knowledge.   And it got to the point where it became a bit of a joke. We were waiting for the council to come to the meeting with their evidence.   And by the 3rd meeting   in, that year,   we all just sat there in the silence and waited for them to give us something, and they had nothing.  

They had nothing to give us. And I'm thinking, this is really strange.   So   2017   at the same time,   I go on to BBC News, Spotlight News,   and have an article about the story.   And their statements from the council and the waterfall were, it's not ours.   And then the waterfall were like, it's not ours. So you're like, okay. Well, that's just left of it. Okay?   So in the meantime, I'm doing all the work,   not the council. I'm doing all the work, and I'm going off to see Georgina and all these different people.   So Georgina   has come back with some really interesting things about the area, okay,   which ties in with this pipe. Because   bearing in mind that in March 2017,   they bought Seeker   out   to trace the roads. Okay?  

They ignored   the guy from Seeker, amazing guy.   He was getting bamboozled by Mike Peters   to not go to the areas where   he naturally thought we should go, which is around all the terraces.   So they would come out somewhere. He was being pulled away from that, like I told you last week, and we've got statements, witness statements to that effect.   So   they come out of the tracing   pipes, and I know this pipe runs   through my property   across the road,   and it goes through   to   the Masonic Lodge's   backyard.   Okay? So the the area in front of my house is like another complex,   and it would have had the stables there in its day, all all stables.  

It even had a firehouse   there, which would mean that in its day, it would have been supplied water.   Okay? Right.   So   Joaquin has gone to the meetings,   and she's talking about the area. Okay? And that ties in with what I've said.   So she's saying,   in 9 in 18/30   6 so these networks are really old.   1836,   Henry Harvey   purchased the land and drained it   to build the new   White Hart Hotel.   Okay? Oh, right. So you've got the original White Hart Hotel, which is a Masonic Lodge.   Oh, wow. And then the new White Hart Hotel was built next to it. Okay?   And there was a cholera outbreak,   and some kids died playing in the water there.  

So she's put on here,   the old White Hart Hotel from the Sonic Lodge   was built in 18/24,   and John Harvey   would have ensured that his sister's hotel   would have had a fresh water supply.   So it's like a little coaching then. So this is where the semantics between the council and the water board come. Well, the council is saying, well, it's been a water supply.   So therefore, it should be adopted by the water board, and the water board are calling it land drainage.   But not you know what I mean? Not a supply.   So that's really interesting because,   like I've said, they've tried to frame me to make it look like it's just my house. So   we start this tracing,   and   there was 1 person in the area who was acting really strange   and was blocking us. 1 of the neighbors was blocking us from tracing down the back alleyways and we thought,   this is odd. You know what I mean? Why would they be doing that? So I think they're the people that got told   that they were responsible for it because it comes from an area at the back of their land. It's not on their land. It's the back of their land,   and they wouldn't let it trace it.  

So this goes on for months on end. Nothing's really happening.   I get the Seeker report back. Doesn't make any sense. Again, all the paperwork is all wrong.   So it's they smudged the sort history of it. So it's   saying in the SECA report that they were called out   to a leak   that was leaking for approximately   12 months.   I'm like, there is no leak. This is the same ongoing investigation   that was supposed to have been started   in 2009   when my insurers wrote to the council and the water board saying you need to sort out this area. So this has gone on for sort of decades now.   So   I started going around to neighbor's houses and getting them to write statements of what their history of   the area happened to them at the same time. So I'll read you 1 of the statements, and this really makes sense of what I'm saying. So I won't say the person's name and the address,   and it says to whom it may concern, my name is   blank blank, and I previously lived at   number blank blank   from 2001   to 2018.  

Back in the end of May and the beginning of June   2009,   which is when they did the Southwest Water did the pipe bursting,   we lost all pressure in our house.   I called out Southwest Water to sort the problem out.   Ridiculousness   ridiculously,   there were they were there for over 4 days.   Sound familiar?   Yeah. Trying to reconnect me, but could not find my feet.   1 of the workers actually said to me,   it's a bloody nightmare, mate. We don't know where the water's coming from or how to turn it off.   It's like Spaghetti Junction.   He also stated it was almost impossible   to find   as it was unknown and unreachable,   and the pipes seemed to zigzag   under some of the houses   and crossing the roads,   which I thought at the time was rather disconcerting.  

I rang South Westwater again who then soon sent a suited manager down   to look at the problem,   and he explained to me that they had no way of tracing my original feed as it was so old,   and they had no existing maps of the pipe work   dating back that far.   They finally resolved it by connecting me,   but I am not sure whose feed I was connected to.   I was changed from lead or galvanized   standpipe in my garden   to a new blue alkaline pipe.   Also, when the next door number   turned his water supply off, it stopped my standpipe feed in the garden,   which was my old 1,   but not my house that was still running.  

So this is   clearly   an issue for the area. It's not just my house.   And you've got to remember in this time,   where they're doing all these investigations,   the standpipe that we'd originally traced   the echo and the cat and Jenny to   in 2018   was suddenly removed   in the middle of the investigations   by Southwest Water, which was strange because I don't understand why the council would have let that happen if there was still   ongoing the investigations.   Was that to hide the evidence then? I think so. Yeah. I think it was to hide the evidence, and Graham Winter's written that in court as well. He's saying they're dismantling it. What they're doing   is they're using Mel and her hard work and diligence   to work out how to dismantle it around us.  

And I've got another 9 statements of that fact from other neighbors. We've got,   I've got 1 neighbor who's actually witnessed   where she is. She's further up.   And where this tank is, there's a tank at the top of the hill because this feed is definitely gravity fed.   And she's witnessed   activity out there at night with head torches.   And   by this time,   Kath Robinson   has moved Mike Peters away   over to Korsair.   She's a good friend of his, so she protected him and moved him over to   And then we get a new highways manager called Rupert Spencer.   He has been told a bunch of lies from Mike Peters, obviously,   and he keeps repeating his lies. And me and my mates keep going, no. That's not true. This is the truth. And,   he kept calling us paranoid saying that they're not doing anything behind the council's back,   the water board. It was quite funny actually because he was standing outside.  

And I said to him, you need to move your feet, Rupert. There's a question mark under your foot.   And he looked and he went, that wasn't here yesterday. I said, exactly. They're coming out at night.   Why would they do that? If they're working with the council   Yeah. Why do they need to be so   Sneaky. Squeaky about it all. You know what I mean? So the council in the Water Board are telling the BBC,   and they're telling Westminster that they're working robustly together as a team, but they're not. They're working   against each other   and using me and my evidence.  

So   at that stage, I'm not fussed about,   compensation because they've   clearly moved me past   the timeline. So   the event happened in 2009.   The event is the pipe bursting   and the open end of sewers, which is south of Florida.   But that event shows the negligence of also the council because they had no maps to give the water board   when they plant first. Okay? So   this is where we're at, where we're just going round and round in circles.   So many neighbors have got involved.   Some of them don't understand the story, but a lot of them have got involved, and they've come to all the meetings with me. But whenever you see any paperwork or correspondence about this story,   it's Mel Sheridan's problem.  

It's they made it my problem.   Even to the point   where 1 of the neighbors   suddenly   shot up, sold up, and disappeared.   Okay?   And then when we had a residence meeting,   this other neighbor put this letter up on Facebook,   which   our group had never seen,   and this is where it gets really sinister.   Southwest Water had given   some of my neighbors in the street, the people that weren't really aware,   pieces of paper   saying,   to the best of our belief and ability,   this pipe   network   isn't under your property.   It is only under miss Sheridan's,   and it gives my address.  

That's g d that's breaking GDPR. You can't do that. You can't just give people   that sort of evidence   on my on my house.   Sure. So it's clear that they are trying to frame me, and they're making out it's only under my house, but it goes across. It's still flowing now across the road. Okay?   So what's even more sinister, this went on for months months months,   and then I end up in Marks and Spencer's with Love Day Jenkins   in in Hale   with Hearst telling me,   I need to give them the timeline of events. And I'm thinking,   you've got the timeline of events. I've been writing to you all since 2012.  

So it turned out that they weren't listening to a word I said, and they were just ignoring me.   They knew that was safe because   pipe bursting happened in 2009,   and you've got 3 years after the event   to claim for emotional injury.   And then you've got 6 years   to claim.   I put my claims in,   but obviously,   I went after Southwest Water about the open end of sewers with my solicitor.   And I thought that my Peters and the council were clearly gonna deal with this because it's still in their road, and it's really old.   So   they basically tried to frame me. So we do this timeline,   and they write to George Eustace,   and then I can read to the letter if it's really long. But it's basically saying, you know, there are issues in this area,   which is really important. You know, this affects health and assets. Can you please bring in specialists   from outside   to sort this out? Because, obviously, by this time, the council and the water board   are entrenched.  

They're not budging.   They're not budging, so we just need specialists to come in and get this sorted once and for all.   The listeners might be   interested to know that   there is technology for them to trace these pipes with micro, like, fiber optic cameras.  

[00:20:31] Unknown:

Alright.  

[00:20:32] Unknown:

But they don't want to use those   because they end up getting lost in the system, and they're £3, 000   a pop.   Okay? Bearing in mind the 1, 000, 000, 000 in profit that Southwest Water make,   you think they'd be interested in using their technology   to save people's houses and find out if people are drinking   dangerous water? Well, they're not. They're not interested. It's all about shareholders.   Nothing else. They're not interested in resolving it. So   we write to George Eustace.   He does nothing.   He's blanked   everybody.   I'll just read you quickly.  

John Martin, who is the   mayor, was the mayor of Houston.   He's been writing to George Eustace for years.   He's basically saying, you know, the situation in which Mel has found herself in is not of her making.   She is an innocent victim of the authorities not taking appropriate action   to resolve issues   with the antiquated water systems in Haile.   A service which a service which needs a serious overhaul,   not just at the road outside Mel's home, but across the large parts of Haile.   Mel's life and work had been completely disrupted for far too long. And then it goes on. It says, you know, her lovely house and her home and family life have been disrupted.   This is completely unacceptable.  

It is imperative that the appropriate authorities offer Mel a way out of this now.   It is unacceptable   to have her to continue to suffer in this way, And he fully supported me, and they all came to the court and everything. So   they know that this is January 2021.   So   out of the blue,   I get,   a letter from Cornwall Council,   which is 1 paragraph,   saying   we like to bring this conclusion.   We cannot keep this investigation   open ended,   and,   we will be closing the case. Okay? I'm like   and they even they even stated the wrong name of the road of the investigations.   That's how amateur it is. They didn't even know the right address of the investigation. So no one's paying any attention to this.  

All their energies going on is deflecting   and just putting the blame back on   southwest water, knowing that southwest water won't deal with it. So   after all this, bearing in mind that COVID came along,   my mom was in a care home. She got taken out of her house and and put into a care home, like a transitional care home that ended up stuck in there, 300 miles away.   They took me to court.   The court council took me to court. Wow. They cleared my back. So I've been allowed to not pay council tax because it was on hold.   I can read Love Day's statement of that. She's written and said, you know, this is on hold until it's resolved. It's not being resolved.  

They cleared my outstanding   £5, 000 debt, which wasn't a debt. It was just on hold. It wasn't meant to be building up for 5 years because of the investigation.   It shouldn't have taken   5 years.   So,   they took me to court, cleared my outstanding   bill,   and changed my account numbers over and took me to the court   magistrate's court in in Truro. So I turned up there with about a 100 people   and the BBC,   and, we went to court.   And I they kept saying, oh, you know, you need to come into a side room and you need to pay. And I'm like, no. No. I'm not paying it. You need to go to court. You wanna bring me to court? We'll go to court. So I go into the courtroom,   and,   I had 3 magistrate females, and they were brilliant.  

And they basically said, this is clearly not about council tax. This is something else.   And they said, you know, you owe   £274, miss Sheridan.   I think I said this last week, and I said, no. No. I don't. I owe   £6, 000. And they said to the clerk, you know,   well, why have this woman been let off this money? And he didn't know, so they adjourned the court. You got there, and mommy got lockdowns going on. Yep. I've got COPD,   and I'm being pulled into court in the middle of   COVID, allegedly. You know what I mean? That's that's stuff about the lockdown. So,   then   I get a court case again,   gets canceled   6 times right at the last minute.  

So now I've realized that's another corporate bamboozle when it's trying to break me down, get me stressed out, build myself up for a court case, and then it gets canceled.   So I go to the second court case,   which is quite unheard of. You know, you get through to the council tax.   But they actually said to me in the second court case with the women, different women again,   right.   We can clearly see that you've got a lot of people in the galleries, and we can see that this isn't, you know, this is wrong. Could you please supply us with all the evidence   of why you believe you're not liable to bank with witness statements and testimonies? So, okay, we'll do that. So we went off, and we did that. We gave a list of all the people, 28,   addresses   and witness statements.  

I held back quite a lot of them because I knew that certain people in the town,   they'll just go and pay them off because that's what they do. They give them £3, 000 of real gestures.   So I kept the ones that I knew that were not gonna be paid off, the people I knew were gonna be on board for me the whole way through.   And so they did.   They used the addresses   of the statements,   not the actual full testimonies, but the addresses of the people that were witnesses,   And they started doing works in those areas in Hale,   changing the feeds over because they worked out the certain addresses. There was more than 1 address on that certain road. Right. So they started working. So the people that are listening to this who live in Hale will know there's been so much activity in Hale in the last 6 years. And I think this story,   my story has brought to light something which was very hidden, and I think certain people knew about it   and certain people didn't.  

So   when you go back to the original,   me going to Halethown Council in 2012,   Graham Code, who is a Hale Councilor, and he's been a mayor,   he's known about this story since 2012.   And I've got audios of him on the phone saying to   me, I'm aware of the ghost pipes in now in Haile now. Yes. There are ghost pipes in Haile. However, it doesn't affect me because I live up a hill. So   all the male counselors that I went to over those 10 years, not 1 of them ever came to my house because I believe they already knew. They've already knew that these networks are here.   So   they're still running. They're still old, and nothing has been resolved.  

So I don't know where we're gonna go from   here forward.   But what I find stunning is that when you look at the SARs on Cornwall Council, I'll just   This is pending. So this was pending for 4 years of me ringing them up.   On the second page,   you know how sometimes you look at evidence and it doesn't mean anything at the time, and then you go back and you look at it again, you know, oh, that looks like it could be something. So   it's got here about me telling them about the road sinking. This is in 2008.   And then it says   I saw this.  

It says 18th January   2008.   4th call,   message is left to advise that no further contact will be made,   that we will look at laying a patch   to divert the water into the gully, which is another negligence. They're not looking at why the road's sinking. They just wanted to patch it up.   I do not believe that the puddle would be causing any problems   as it is situated out in the road.   Listen to this. This is Cornwall Council's SAR.   But more likely,   the springs   which the terraces are built on.  

[00:28:33] Unknown:

Oh, gosh.  

[00:28:34] Unknown:

So they know. Yeah. Yeah. The council know,   and it's it's obviously the original spring water supplies for the area,   and that's when the council keep passing the buck back to Southwest Water.   And I'm just stuck in the middle.   Just can't seem to get to get past it. But what I get cross about is the grooming of the fact that   I've got letters with the council telling me   I've got 1 here and it says, you know, in response to your letters dated 8th of September 2017,   this issue had been ongoing for a considerable   time,   and the council remains   fully committed   to finding where the water pipe runs and then potentially,   if possible,   devising a solution to deal with it. So they kept saying they were going to   commit to dealing with it. And then when it got to 2019,   6 years from the underpinning,   they just took me to court.  

It's cool   what they've done to me.   It's really cool.   Yeah. Yeah. You know? And and we know it's obvious now that it clearly is something which is affecting the whole area   because you wouldn't spend this much energy   and people   doing all these shenanigans and pretending to look for something   if it wasn't just a threat to me,   would you? No. No. You wouldn't. No. So, you know, they've what they've done is which has happened to loads of people when they go through trauma for long lengths of time.   They just sort of paint you as, oh, there's that bad woman. You know, you're just going about nonsense. And you're like, I'm not going about nonsense.   This is clearly I mean, I've got other statements here as well, but I mean, we could go on forever reading these statements, but   it's over the whole of hell. But this 1 in particular that runs through the terrace   is   the feed for the Maiden's Lodge,   which makes sense of why   I've been in Rosemary's baby for the last 10 years in the film, isn't it? No 1 wants to deal with it.  

Not the not the masons. No. No. And we know I mean, I I know that there's masons within Cornwall Council, and I'm sure that the same in South of Port. So they're both   just covering because,   yeah, it hasn't been checked for contamination   for god knows when.   But there's just too there's just too many coincidences. I mean, there's other there's other houses in this area that   30 years ago,   a couple was sitting in their dining room having breakfast,   and all of a sudden, an 8 foot geyser burst through their dining room.   And then I've got another gentleman who came to Halethown Council,   and he admitted   that he concreted his up. He could hear water running through the back of his   courtyard. It drove him mad. He concreted it up. Oh, gosh. So that means that these networks are really old.  

That's why it came to Thomas Jawors.   Are all getting just capped off here and there, and it's under pressure.  

[00:31:32] Unknown:

So What what's likely to happen, like, if this continues then? Air will sink. Air will sink. Right.  

[00:31:38] Unknown:

The houses will go, and it would all sink. So in the meantime, are they you thinking, like, they're just gonna keep bodging this up all the time? They what they're doing, they're pitching patching. So what they do is that I mean, we know this for I mean, I've got all the videos. They don't realize how much evidence well, I think they do know how much I've got. Because when Tracy Simons came around,   she was constantly trying to find Georgina's paperwork, and she kept trying to ask me for the council's   SARs.  

And I had guys that and my brother is quite savvy. He said, don't give   don't give each party anything against the other party because that's what they're trying to do.   Yeah. They will know about it.   I mean, you know, I mean, if if Graham Coad knows about it in 2012   and Georgina Schofield has basically said in the meeting, you've both known about these systems   for over a 100 years.   So   I think it's just something which is just because they haven't got the maps   and they don't know how to deal with it, what they're doing is they're just locking off the feeds into people's houses when and if they come across them.   But those networks are still running under people's houses,   And then they're getting the new mains put on the front   because that's what's been happening down the whole of the mains parts of Hale, is that their feeds have suddenly gone from their back to the front.  

You know, they've got new feeds at the front. Right. And there's and there's so many people that have said to me, you know,   we were doing our garden, and we found this 4 and it's exactly the same, 4 inch cast iron. And we ran the water up because we wanted it to be stopped, so we were doing a, you know,   extension.   And the waterboard said it was nothing to do with them. So we've had to just sort of, like, unplug it and it's running and move it around   around the extension.   So it's just it's just bonkers.   They really do not wanna deal with this inhale, and and that's why Anne Marie Rance, the mayor, got involved because she could see that this wasn't just   my area. But for me,   the fact that it's still   going across the road and this is another issue, Shelley, that I really am not very happy about is the fact that   this is another thing that the listeners can understand.  

Between 2017   and 2019,   they dug this pipe up again   for the 4th time outside my house,   and they left it open for for 1 year 3 months.   They left it, a 6 foot hole outside the wall of my house,   for a year and a half   open   with bits of old cardboard over it and plywood, and the broken signs just collapsed on the side. I mean, you know?   And what it was, in hindsight, was the fact they were wanting me to give in   and let them back fill the road again   so that it was it was visible again.   You know what I mean? No 1 knew it was there. Yeah. Yeah. Just keep covering it. And I and I held out, and I just said, basically, you know, I'll park my car over that hole.   If it's good enough for you to leave a 6 foot by 6 foot hole in the middle of your road for nearly 17 months,   it's good enough for me to park my car over it then. I said, because you're not backfilling it, you're putting a chamber in. Yeah. And this is when it gets really funny. So   they come out, they have no clue how to put this chamber in to access it because I was saying to them from the very beginning,   isn't it sensible to build an access chain for it so that you haven't got to keep digging the road out   every time you need to look at it? And they just ignored me. And then by the 5th time, it was like, yeah. Well, we're gonna have to do that. So they put a chamber in,   and they're supposed to come back   every 6 months to see if it it's okay and it hasn't failed because this chamber is where all the trucks drive over.  

And they've been back once,   the council,   3 years ago, and haven't been back since.   So I don't even know if it's still running or not.   I can sometimes hear it, but I don't know whether that's me in my head   hearing it. You know what I'm saying? Where I've been triggered and I can hear it, but it's definitely not as noise as it used to be. So I'm wondering if   and all the people who've got involved have always said to me, if they turn it off, you'll never know who's turned it off. You know what I mean? Because they don't want the future liability   of all the other networks.  

But it's a fact that   it could be stopped, and I wouldn't even know because they won't come back. And the only only place to access this 1 is in the council's road.   So when George useless,   I mean, beyond useless,   said, you know I mean, what he's basically done, Shelley, is he's dumped riparian ownership on bail. Yeah.   And I'm saying to him,   okay. Well, then if it's past the boundary and it broken the road, then surely, if you wanna go up that avenue, which is nonsense, because we know that that's rubbish. It's not technically possible.   Surely, the council will arrive all, and he's like, no.  

So   I'm hoping that Perrin Moon,   the new Labour   guy, who is on the beach with Fergal Sharkey and Noah Law, and they're all discussing how they're gonna take on Southwest Water, and they're gonna take them to task about the sewage and sea.   I hope that mister Moon is really interested in   hail drinking water   because otherwise to me, then   that's important, isn't it?   So that's the next move is we're all going to start going to   we're gonna have to go to Peramoon and say that, you know, you're gonna have to sort this out. Yeah. We're gonna do.   So I'll just read you quickly,   if I can find it now. It's a statement   from,   It's a statement from   lovely Jenkins,   and it's basically saying,   this is in 2019.  

I do this is to the council,   to Cape Canali.   I do not believe that the council doesn't have some responsibility   for the damage to Mel's property.   We let the road collapse outside Mel's property and left it collapsing for long enough   for Mel's house to require serious underpinning work,   which her insurers asked both the council and the water pool to pay for, and neither did.   This is fact, because she's seen all the evidence.   Whether the rogue collapse was due to Cornwall Council or South West Water's negligence is a matter between Cornwall Council and South West Water.   But the fact remains that if Cornwall Council hadn't let the vote collapse, then Mel's house would not have been affected.  

Mel is increasingly fragile and suffering from her long fight for justice and constant worry about her future.   Her battle has been taken up by a number of different groups, and she is no longer on her own with it.   So you've got to remember that,   the Labour Party took it up in 2019.   They've put flyers around the whole town saying, do you know where your drinking water comes from? And obviously, they didn't get in. So I'm hoping that this time, I just wanna be pulled out of the story.   You know, I I don't be the person that's holding on for hail.   This is nuts.  

It's got to be resolved. And if Southwest Water haven't got the expertise to resolve it,   then the government are gonna have to bring in   and spend some money   in sorting hail out, because   it's not just this end of hail, it's a whole of hail. I've got statements from all different parts of hail, all different situations and different anomalies, and, you know, people having 2 sets of feeds, and some people are drinking   their unmetered feed because it's free.   And then, you know, I've got actual, water test results of, people who've got gel feeds in the same   house. You turn off 1, and then half the water comes through, and you put the other 1 off, and the other bits of the water come through the same tap.  

And when we've had it the right cock up. Yeah. And this is another thing that Tracy Simon lied about. Because she kept saying to me, we don't use cast iron. We don't use raw cast iron.   This is where it gets really interesting now. So   I after the court cases, I was so tired.   I'm just worn down by it all. And then, yeah, COVID, and I couldn't see my mom. And she was in the care home for 8 months. It's horrendous. Seems like it was for lots of people.   And   what was I gonna say?   What's gonna say now?   Well but yeah. So it it's just the whole   it's just the cruelty of it, and it's not dealing with it. So, yeah, this is where I I started paying my council tax again,   because I just needed a break. Yeah. Yeah. It is terrible. And I just said, oh god. I just need a break. And I wasn't even withholding it. I was told to withhold it. So they treated me like a criminal.  

I went to court. The Cornishman did this article about me. They changed the story right at the last minute, and it ends up being council tax matter. I'm like,   what's what's that about?   I'm not I'm just not paying. And if you look at all the photographs outside courts, all the banners are   justice for Mel, justice for Hale.   So basically, everyone who got involved with this story   knew that it wasn't about me. It was about Hale in general. That's, you know in the beginning, I thought it was just about me. But over the years of talking to lots of other people   and then writing statements,   I realized it   isn't just about me. It's loads of people in hell that are going through the same problem. So what they've been doing   is dismantling it. So there's a house right in front of me, and I told the guy all about it.  

And I've got the video of this and photograph.   Lo and behold, 3 months later, he's got a blank van outside his house.   He put the house on the market,   and then it came off the market.   And then it came off the market because Southwest Water went in there and dug up the pipes in this house. Okay? And I know this because the person that's living in it now has told me all this and   she's written statements. So   they know   no. I mean, they know where this stuff and then what they're doing is damage and limitation.   So they're just some of it runs through sewers.  

So when they were unluckling the pipe outside mine on 1 of the occasions, the guy officer said,   it stopped. There's water running from my courtyard   across the road, and it stopped   since you've unknappled that in the road.   So it's connected to the sewers,   the foul sewage,   gray   water, and it's serving people. And the people in the town who are getting free feeds,   they think they're saving money. They're not gonna come forward and go, oh, yeah. I've got 1 of those because they're not paying. Right. There are people   in the complex opposite me   that are paying because   there's certain things that have happened over this time with this pipe where they've come out and said, oh, no. That's not And then they can't turn it, and you can turn it. And then San Francisco will come out 2 hours later. So it's definitely   serving some people, and they get charged for it, and some people aren't. So   I don't know how is this ever gonna get resolved,   but I intend to   withhold my council tax indefinitely   because   I can't pay a company that's done this to me. I just can't.  

And it's just, you know, it's affected everything. I mean, on my health,   my social life,   the last 10 years of my mom's life. I mean, my mom was, like, saying to me, don't come and stay with me if you're stressed.   So I thought, alright. No 1 can come and stay with you, mom, because I'm stressed.   You know? So and my son's it started when he was,   well, 13.   Yeah. It's just nonsense. Yeah. You shouldn't have to go through all this, you know, and you shouldn't have to   be paying for solicitors for something that happened outside your house. So   the house in a way, you know,   you can sell, I'll just move on now and, you know, you'd always be able to sell it. But it's a principle for me. It's like, yeah, but that's just stupid. You can't have all these old networks running everywhere that nobody owns.  

I spoke to a guy yesterday, and he said the same thing. He said, this is bonkers. It must belong to somebody.   I said, I know.   Can't just be left,   riddled the whole town, and then   if it affects somebody,   they're gonna go through this.   Because   it set precedence now, isn't it? They walk away from this. That's it. So there's so many people that have been involved. There's so many people that have helped as well,   but I don't know,  

[00:44:05] Unknown:

yeah, I don't know what's gonna happen. What's what's going on? Step forward. Yeah. What a nightmare. And I said to you, like, the other day, ever since you've told me your story, all I keep seeing popping up everywhere is,   other people's stories of, like, contaminated water and   stuff like that. It just seems to be everywhere.  

[00:44:23] Unknown:

Well, I've got technical notes here, and it actually says well, I'm on the technical notes. There's actually it.   It   says here that there was 2 previous water companies   before this, before Southwest Water.   There was 2.   That makes 3.   3 networks of water systems in the towns.   Now I know that Red Roof have got problems,   and I know that Port 11 have got problems.   And Mousel   had some real problems about 10 years ago.   Their their water was just yellow,   You know? And I know that certain areas in the roads around here, I've had people come to me because now I'm the map white lady. Everyone comes to me.   You know? And this old fellow said to me, so I've got dead leaves coming through my tap.  

Dead leaves. Oh my god. It's just bonkers. Yeah. So,   it's basically   I mean,   I feel   that this is the council's fault   because they basically lost all the all the all the all the maps and the infrastructures. I  

[00:45:30] Unknown:

mean, we have to Have they lost them, or are they hiding them because they Well, I'm  

[00:45:36] Unknown:

just going back to the Halton council. So, basically,   I've been paying my council tax   since   2020   because I just was so tired, and it was like, oh, this is getting on my nerves. And I had some amazing people that even offered to pay it for me. I mean, they did actually to the guys that said, look, we'll just give you a great meal. We'll pay it. You know what I mean? We'll just pay it. They paid out their own money, them. They were, like, really sweet, and they said, look. I don't know. I'm still not paying it. And they're like, just give yourself a break because I've got the COPD in it. It gets flares up in my It's too much. You know, I went to stop paying my council tax. I think I did about a month, and they're just getting quicker and quicker with their letters.  

[00:46:15] Unknown:

And they do you know, I know people that don't pay their council tax, and they they live in   in their sovereign power, so to speak. They know their rights,   and they're fine with it. But for me, now I've it's like choose your battles, isn't it? I can't Yeah. I mean, and  

[00:46:31] Unknown:

and for me now, it's like so I I paid it under duress, and I've worked up every day, chewing and wasp, like, really angry. Yeah. Yeah. I think we all are. But,   I went to what what made it interesting, what what started it all up again. You gotta remember, I've been going to Hal town council continuously for 12 years. God, but they hate And unfortunately, with Hal town council,   you're only allowed to speak for 3 minutes.   Okay? Oh, really? Right. Okay. How are you meant to get a story like this out in 3 minutes? So I've been, again,   giving them bits of evidence, and I've realized that these are really good people. A lot of them are volunteers,   but they don't have the wherewithal to join the dots and even look at the paperwork. So you're just giving all this paperwork, and they're just putting in a drawer.  

They're not looking at it. It's not until Anne Marie Rance   was the 1 that started joining the dots because this is where it gets funny.   We're running out of time now. So   in October last year, when the gas board came out,   I said to the guys there, and this is another thing, Shelley, that people got to understand. It's not just Southwest Water not logging anything. You know, Southwest Water put me on a new feed in 2006.   I have my con 29 is still blank. It doesn't show that feed being put on in   2006. It's blank still. So nothing gets logged.   I thought that they had this sort of login system where you just go to a login center and they know where everything is. No.  

The gas board came out,   and they sent me a letter saying they were coming down this road where all the problem is,   to put a new gas pipe in. I'm thinking,   no. There was a gas pipe put in in the eighties,   and that's the re and and it'd be this pipe had been hit before in the eighties by the gas board, made me knuckled it.   And my has been blaring in the gas board for the last 10 years. And I'm saying, like,   if that pipe was hit and it was leaking like it the flow of it in 1980,   there wouldn't have been a house made of buy in 2002.   It would have been on the side.  

So they've reknuckled it.   They didn't even know they've been down my road and laid a pipe   20 years ago, 30 years ago. They didn't even have a record of it being made. It's only because I could show them the photographs of the gas pipe   under the road.   They believed that they didn't need to put me on a new 1. So they're out on the road   there, and the gas guys   have been given nothing. Now I've got all the videos of it. They're filming it, and they've got these great big surface water sewers and all these broken pipes.   And the council is saying it's not theirs, and the water board is not saying it's not theirs.  

I guess, honestly, I've got pictures of them tying some of them together with, like, gorilla gorilla tape   running networks with gorilla tape,   plastic and a bit of cast. I mean, honestly, it's just   so amateur.   So the gas guy, I said to them, you know, you're gonna hit a world of pain when he gets to a problem with this road because there's a culvert.   And they did.   They went straight through the culvert, and this is where it got really interesting. I think I did I mention it? Stop me if I have.   This is where Anne Marie Rance got in touch with me and she went, right. Okay.   The gas board have contacted the structures department and the council   and asked them how to resolve this thing they've hit.  

And the guy in the structures department had no record of the cold that even existed.   Okay?   So he said he'd get back to them, and if he did, and, obviously, he's been not silenced yet. He didn't know that with the backstory.   And it turns out that some guy's got all the infrastructure,   the whole of Cornwall in his house.   It's not set the vaults in Dal Copeland and down. They've they've been removed from the the vaults.   Hence,   why all the people at properties   don't know of all the stuff around the areas because the surveyors have got nothing to work from.   You know, I've got a guy that's just moved in recently near me, and he didn't even know he had a cold that mixed with his house. He didn't know. He had a survey.  

He didn't know. So   it's this negligence on a scale that's so biblical. All they could do to hide the embarrassment of it is just keep lying.   And they've just lied, and this is the problem with   the the the water board. They lie. They've just lied to Halton Council.   I don't think they've lied, to be fair. I think the the new guys on the block have been told   a Chinese whisper,   and they're delivering that Chinese whisper thinking it's the truth, and it isn't. That's not what happened.   So that's when Anne Marie Rance was like, okay. This is connecting with what Love Day said, that they haven't got the maps.   So Penwith District Council didn't give the maps to Cornwall Council in 2009,   and Cornwall Council had no maps to give Southwest Water.  

But my argument is   South West Water have been the water company for Cornwall since 1989,   10 years before.   Yeah. Now that how they've been running the networks then?   How they've been They're hiding it rather than how can they do that? If they haven't got the maps, how can they be doing it?   So it's just   I just feel like we've all just got boxed into a corner. Me and the council and the waterfall, we're all just boxed in a corner. No 1 can move. It suits the waterfall just to leave me alone   and not charge me.   And the council   just wanted me to just keep paying them. This is why I'm not paying the council tax at the moment. This is the reason.  

Because in the Helltown Council meeting, Andy Hoskins basically said, they're not going to clear the coal out.   And bearing in mind, the coal that's silted up, which I said last week,   they can't clear it out because they've got no money. 2nd excuse was, we can't clear it out because the gas board have built their infrastructure on top of the silt.   And if you clear it out, it's gonna collapse. And the third excuse is we've got to protect the eels. And I'm just, like, in a meeting going, you know what? I'm done.   I'm just not paying you for this nonsense. I'm not sitting   here after it's the very thing that's caused this problem. It was the culverts and   the open ended sewers.  

You're gonna continue this right in front of my house and leave me to flood. And then when all these people flood in the area,   they get put on a DG 5. It's called a DG 5. They don't know that until they go to sell their houses. And I'm trying to get my the people that are next to these culverts to get involved,   but they just don't.   They're like, big luck now. You know, I'm trying to save your house.   They could cut now.   Like, did you take any photographs of the overflowing coal that's silted up? Oh, no. I forgot.   Like, okay. I'll I'll take the photograph for you.  

It's bonkers. It's just bonkers. Yeah. Just wanna carry over their easy little lives, don't they? Yeah. So I'm now I'm withholding my council tax, and I've now had   I wrote to officer 151.   I wrote to her, Tracy Langley,   a year and a half ago. I whistle blowed   on Mike Peters, and I've studied this. Her she didn't follow due diligence. She was meant to come out and interview me. She didn't. She sent me back to the same legal department   who've who've completely ignored my evidence.   Because you gotta remember that I've been sent   loss adjuster letters from the council as well saying, you know, you choose a list from the loss adjuster.  

In, you know, in the meantime, we would like to give you confidence. It doesn't matter.   So that's where I can prove the grooming. You know what I mean? It's like they keep   grooming you. It is because they knew   that I was not stupid, that the money is not gonna solve   the long term future liability   for these houses   or the area, is it?  

[00:53:53] Unknown:

Giving me compensation doesn't solve the problem, does it? No. No. It's still there, and you're you're doing the right thing.  

[00:54:00] Unknown:

Yeah. Exactly. So I feel like, you know, for me, it was like and that's why I'm really annoyed because, like, Kate Mally is cruel. I mean, she should be I don't know. She'd been   gate or something. I don't know what she is, but she turned around and said an update. Oh, well, you know, Mel didn't take us to court. And I'm like, no. Because we thought   that residents thought that you were resolving it for the area. So I thought, well, you know, as long as it gets resolved to the area, I'm not so fussed about the compensation because   I've spent 1, 000 taking them to task already.  

I've spent 7 years paying the solicitors back.  

[00:54:32] Unknown:

I just wanna go to bed with peace of mind. That's all I want. I just want Yeah. Yeah. I think the next the next step for you really is when you've I mean, it's just a personal opinion.   When you've next   got a court date for your council tax, and I know you've had, like, loads of people show up before,  

[00:54:50] Unknown:

we make it I'm not good anymore. No. I I I didn't do it. I mean, I got I got a summons.   You're just not playing that game? November, and they sent me a summons. I didn't bother. Right. What's the point? It's a hired court. It's a kangaroo court hired by the council,   and then the people are there just masquerading as magistrates. And by the 3rd hearing, this is another thing. On the 3rd hearing, I submitted all the evidence.   We all went again,   and they ignored the evidence   and just closed the case down. But it was like 3 guy it was 3 guys on the 3rd hearings. Obviously, they pulled their heads in just to completely shut it down.   So all my evidence they'd asked me to submit, they ignored.  

And then maybe, you know, make your pay, but I paid.   But in November last year, I didn't know. I'm not doing this anymore. You know, I can't go through this. And then now sitting there waiting to flood. I'm not doing that. And how are you feeling now then about, like, court summons coming and going? Are you bothered by it? I'm not bothered.   Good for you. Good for you because you're bothered by it. What more can they do to me? Yeah. What more than they they've lost me in my teaching career, my art career,   my reputation.  

Okay. Now I think I've I came from I've never   had any problems with my neighbors. I've never had any sort of dispute with anybody, and this has really affected the area. You've got people that   understand the story and know me and think, you know, she's doing the right thing. And you've got other people just think, oh god. She's just devaluing our houses. And you're like,   I'm not devaluing your houses. The council on the wall board are devaluing your houses.   Not me. No. No. I'm not doing it. I'm trying to help you.   You know, I'm not I've never I've never put forward people's names No. Or their addresses ever. I've always kept my word that I wouldn't do that. But I needed people's testimonies   for it to be expanded into a bigger   issue   for the the council and the water board to take it even. That happens. They're just not gonna do it. So   George Eustace, obviously,   is, you know, really good friends with Southwest Waterford. He doesn't wanna upset their shareholders in any shape or form. So I'm hoping that   the new guys I mean, I'm politically homeless, so I don't have any faith   in the system at all. No. I just don't I just don't, you know, make it I don't know. I can't do that. Yeah. Yeah. Well So that's where we're at. Well, I I think we need a good old  

[00:57:03] Unknown:

protest, Mau inhale. Couple of protests, get loads of people out there, get get the signs going, get people talking, and, you know, getting involved.  

[00:57:13] Unknown:

But you know what? I'm like, I like a good protest. Yeah. I I I it's I mean, it's I mean, the problem with people in home, I mean, they're just a working class people. They're busy. You know, they got families and   kids and stuff, and they just don't have   and they don't understand that, you know, they probably think, oh, well, it's all it's okay. You know, I'm not I'm not there yet. Perhaps there's a way of, like, doing, like, you know, like,  

[00:57:35] Unknown:

when I've looked into not paying council tax before and stuff like that, there's certain letters and stuff. If we could get something really rolling,  

[00:57:43] Unknown:

then there could be templates for people to print out. And it's Yeah. Well, if you take This is where and this is the thing, though, isn't it? This is where everyone falls short is that, you know, you need legal   insight. And I went to solicitors.   The solicitor didn't give me any advice for me because that's another story. You know, the solicitors are just gatekeepers to the corporation. They've actually their oaths. When they take their oath, it's to the queen, and then it's to the corporation,   and then it's to the man on the bus, which is you and me.   I didn't know that. There's been throwing loads of 1, 000 and 1, 000 pounds in the gut. They're not gonna take on South Westport because South Westport got more money. And that's another thing you gotta remember.  

Keith Wise drove all the way from Birmingham   down to see my solicitor for 15 minutes. Why?   Why do you need to do that?   So they just get silenced,   and there's fraud letters been we've proven the fraud letters and George Jesus has shut it down on the fraud. I've even got the guy on the phone saying, laughing, going, I wasn't given any evidence, Mel. I just told her to shut you down. I've got it on record. I've got it on audio.  

[00:58:45] Unknown:

So We we can have to stop there, Mel, but Okay. We we need to talk more about this because I would like to be involved. And, I think there's a lot of people we could put together something, and we can do something. So you're not everybody.  

[00:58:57] Unknown:

This is community they've they've lost the maps for Cornwall and Devon. Yeah. This ties in with Brickson.   This ties in with what's going down in Brickson.  

[00:59:06] Unknown:

Right. Well, we're gonna have to end it there. Mel, where can people contact you, my lovely? What's your email address again?  

[00:59:12] Unknown:

Melly Wu,   me, double l, I e w o   0, [email protected].  

[00:59:21] Unknown:

Brilliant. Get in touch with Mal if you've got any ideas, people. Mal, thank you so much for your time. We will talk again soon. Shelley. Thank you for listening. You take care. Ramble on. That's alright. I'll be back with the Kono Connection and Malefika Scott,   in a couple of minutes, guys.   Thank you so much, everybody, and,   see you soon, Mel. Take care, my darling. Cheers. Bye bye. Bye bye. Bye bye. I'm not even gonna play the outro music because we're never gonna make it. So I'll ramble. Yes. I'm on next with the connection   with Malefika Scott on Radio Soapbox.com.  

And   I won't be back next week,   but I'll be back the week after.   See you soon.