Peaceful protest marks arrival of new SWW CEO

A peaceful protest marked the arrival of South West Water's new CEO today (April 1).

Keith Haslett has taken over from Susan Davy whose time in charge was marred by several pollution incidents, regulatory breaches and mounting public criticism.

Among those making their voices heard were members of Surfers Against Sewage, Extinction Rebellion and Friends of the River Exe.

They protested outside South West Water's headquarters, Peninsula House in Exeter and also tied banners on to a pedestrian bridge over Old Rydon Lane.

Their action follows recent criminal convictions against the company for supplying water unfit for human consumption and for repeated pollution incidents. Sentencing is scheduled to take place at Exeter Crown Court in June.

The campaigners said they remained frustrated that neither the convictions nor the leadership change would deliver meaningful reform, citing ongoing concerns that shareholder rewards continued to be prioritised over investment in infrastructure and maintenance.

Giles Bristow, CEO of Surfers Against Sewage said: “South West Water has been convicted by criminal courts more than 150 times since privatisation. Its record on illegal sewage spills is the worst of all the English privatised water companies.

"Putting this into context, its record is almost three times worse than Thames Water! Yet it continues to post large dividends for its greedy shareholders and reward inept performance by its directors by handing out hefty pay rises and bonuses. We believe it is criminal to reward shareholders and directors in this manner while continuing to supply water unfit for human consumption, and to pollute our environment with raw sewage.”

"We remain hopeful that the new CEO will listen but more importantly start taking proper action. It is time we ended this rigged system built on greed, weak oversight and systemic failure. It rewards pollution, punishes the public and we’ve had enough.”