{"id":720444,"date":"2026-07-31T06:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T06:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/720444\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T06:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T06:49:09","slug":"its-alright-for-them-private-schools-and-golf-courses-stay-green-despite-englands-hosepipe-bans-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/720444\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s alright for them\u2019: private schools and golf courses stay green despite England\u2019s hosepipe bans | Drought"},"content":{"rendered":"

After multiple punishing heatwaves, and no rain in parts for over a month, it seems the whole of the south of England<\/a> is golden brown.<\/p>\n

But by Hammersmith Bridge in Barnes, south-west London<\/a>, there is the unmistakable scent of damp soil. The playing fields of St Paul\u2019s school, where fees are up to \u00a357,000 a year, are a bright, lush green.<\/p>\n

The neatly trimmed grass, with water droplets clinging to each blade, looks like a mirage in the otherwise parched landscape. It has been a shock to appalled residents, who are under a hosepipe ban and have to let their own lawns die.<\/p>\n

In England, 40% of the population is under a hosepipe ban, with seven water companies \u2013 Affinity Water<\/a>, Anglian Water, Cambridge Water, Southern Water, South East Water, Thames Water and South West Water \u2013 all restricting use. But there are exemptions for golf courses, sports pitches and school playing fields, meaning there are pockets of green while the vegetation in the public parks dies.<\/p>\n

It seems the bans came too late; the lack of water across the country means half of England is now in drought<\/a>. This is despite the fact some parts of the country had the wettest start to the year<\/a> on record.<\/p>\n

Children sheltering under a tree at Tooting Bec Common. Photograph: Martin Godwin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in south-west London, families were desperately trying to keep their children cool during school holidays. Young children could be seen huddled under trees in the shade on Tooting Bec Common, which has been scorched by the sun to the extent that the grass has died, leaving bare, hard soil.<\/p>\n

Parents with young children are unable to fill paddling pools to keep them cool, as temperatures have hit 30C or above on 24 separate occasions so far this summer.<\/p>\n

The school, despite being closed for the summer, is allowed to keep its lawns verdant because of a loophole that allows schools to water their pitches for \u201chealth and safety\u201d reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should be under the same rules as the rest of us,\u201d says 62-year-old Steve Barker, who was stopping to mop his brow while on a walk along the Thames. \u201cWhy are they watering the playing fields when they aren\u2019t even using them? It isn\u2019t term-time!<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely looks better than my grass \u2013 I\u2019ve had to let it die, and it is probably too late to save it now. They must be using a lot of water to keep it all so green.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve Barker. Photograph: Martin Godwin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

While the contrast between the lush green of St Paul\u2019s and the withering hydrangeas of the local community gardens is sharp, it is by no means unique: similar tensions are at play across swathes of the south. On the coast of Sandwich Bay in Kent, there are patches of bright green among the parched heathland. This is the Royal St George\u2019s Golf Club, which hosts the Open Championship. The exclusive club allows membership only by recommendation by other members.<\/p>\n

Visitors can attend on some occasions throughout the year for about \u00a3400 a day. South East Water customers in the county are under a hosepipe ban, and the parks in Kent have gone brown.<\/p>\n

Dulwich College in south London, the \u00a367,000-a-year school that counts Nigel Farage among its alumni, has also been keeping its acres of sports pitches lush and green, using powerful sprinklers. The school has said it is \u201cusing water as conservatively as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n

It broke up for summer earlier this month, but continues to keep its sports pitches well watered. The community gardens in nearby Brockwell Park, however, cannot be properly watered.<\/p>\n

That pattern has intensified calls for a change in the water system, to iron out these inequalities and stop the need for as many hosepipe bans. Helena Dollimore, the Labour MP for Hastings and Rye, said: \u201cHosepipe ban exemptions for golf courses and private school sports pitches symbolise everything wrong with our water system. How can it be right that a private school can use hundreds of litres of water to keep the grass green in the middle of the summer holidays, but children cannot play in their paddling pools?<\/p>\n

A person walking through parched grassland beside a dried-up stream in Richmond Park, London. Photograph: Toby Melville\/Reuters<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the consequences of consecutive Conservative governments selling off our most precious resource to create a system that benefits shareholders. All the while my constituents in Hastings, Rye and the villages suffer water outages year on year due to decades of underinvestment in our pipes and infrastructure. It cannot be one rule for them and another for everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cat Hobbs, founder and director of the campaign group We Own It, said the inequality was \u201cshocking\u201d. She added: \u201cPrivate school playing fields are staying lush and green while everywhere else, flowers wilt, parks go brown and kids can\u2019t stay cool in the padding pool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hobbs thinks that \u201cpublic ownership is crucial to manage our water properly, cut leaks and stop unfair exemptions like this\u201d.<\/p>\n

The estates manager at St Paul\u2019s school said: \u2018We are watering our sports pitches, not the wider grounds, in line with Thames Water\u2019s published guidance.\u2019 Photograph: Martin Godwin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

In Barnes, anger at the private school\u2019s green lawns has reached fever pitch. The school is hurriedly writing a letter to its neighbours to explain why the water is being used. Danielle Pierce, the estates manager, said: \u201cWe are watering our sports pitches, not the wider grounds, in line with Thames Water\u2019s published guidance. This water comes from a dedicated standpipe and is not mains drinking water. We\u2019re also preparing a short note for local residents, going out this afternoon, which covers the same points.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barker said: \u201cThe parks are all yellow and dry, too \u2013 they aren\u2019t allowed to break the hosepipe ban even though more people use them.\u201d<\/p>\n

At some community gardens in the area, the plants are suffering as they cannot be watered with a hosepipe, requiring those who tend them to make multiple trips with a watering can.<\/p>\n

Julith Jedamus, a writer and editor who lives in the area, helps tend a community garden. \u201cIt is very tough on the trees and non-perennials,\u201d she said. \u201cOur garden is going very brown. I have been using a watering can for the hydrangeas, which have been suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julith Jedamus. Photograph: Martin Godwin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

She seemed disgusted by the water use at the school, where snaking pipes of irrigation systems can be seen crisscrossing the grounds. \u201cWhat annoys me is schools like St Paul\u2019s can water their grass all year long, even now when school is not in session.\u201d<\/p>\n

One passing man shouted out: \u201cIt\u2019s alright for them!\u201d while gesturing at the green playing fields. Of his garden he said: \u201cIt\u2019s not dead quite yet, but it\u2019s getting there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scientists have said that allowing golf courses and playing fields to remain lush and green can undermine efforts to encourage households to save water.<\/p>\n

Prof Hannah Cloke, a natural hazards researcher at the University of Reading, said: \u201cI would hope green keepers and grounds staff follow best advice about when to water, only watering areas that they need to. It does seem crazy to sprinkle drinking water over sports pitches that don\u2019t need it, when others are facing severe shortages.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After multiple punishing heatwaves, and no rain in parts for over a month, it seems the whole of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-720444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}