Once again, South East Water has failed, and once again there has been a shocking lack of leadership.
This is no isolated incident, it is now a familiar and unacceptable pattern across Kent and Sussex.
It’s been like the nightmare before Christmas we experienced for 12 days in 2022. SEW have learned nothing.
Again, families have been left without water for days. Again, schools have been forced to close. Again, vulnerable residents have had to travel miles to collect bottled water. And there’s been inadequate provision for farm animals and livestock.
South East Water is failing at every level.
How can anyone reasonably be expected to pay their water bills, let alone accept yet more price rises, when the company repeatedly fails to meet even the most basic standards of service?
I am tired of hearing excuses from the management team. Cold weather and rainfall in a British winter are not unexpected events; they are entirely foreseeable. Planning for them is a basic responsibility, not an optional extra. And when incidents do happen, communications are sparse and often unintelligible.
What is needed now is real accountability and real change in how this company is run, starting with the resignation of Chief Executive David Hinton.
