Campaigners across Kent want to stop poorly performing water companies from paying dividends. A montage of statues has been put on show in Whitstable to remind people of the campaign against water pollution.
Just as the environment secretary, Steve Barclay, announces a consultation by the water industries regulator, Ofwat, on bonuses of water company bosses if their companies criminally pollute rivers and beaches, the clean water pressure group ‘Save Our Seas (SOS) Whitstable’ have partnered with a world-renowned artist to create a statue montage to remind people what they are fighting for.
Statues of campaigners
The statues, called ‘Sirens of Sewage’ have been created by artist Jason DeCaires Taylor who says:
“This art installation is intended to celebrate these people who are part of a national network of volunteers, driving public discourse and political action to safeguard the health of our water bodies and marine ecologies.”
He explains that these include, “SOS Whitstable, a group of ten local activists who have been working tirelessly to hold water companies to account and make the sea safer along the Kent coast”.
The sculptures, described as lifecasts, include a cold-water swimmer, a school child, a kite surfer, a lifeboat volunteer and a local fisherman. Some of these are modelled on the actual founders of SOS Whitstable.
The statues are now outside the Old Neptune Pub, on Whitstable’s beach, where they will be for the next six months. The hope is that the sculptures will be given a permanent home in the water later this year.
Statues – a stark reminder of our ongoing battle against sewage pollution
Byron Carter, one of the founders of SOS Whitstable, said:
“It’s been over a year of endless secret meetings, calls and conversations to make this happen. We’re so proud to have worked with a world-renowned talent like Jason who, as an underwater sculptor, was passionate about our cause from the start. To have his work on our shore is such a huge honour – for us and for Whitstable.
“The installation is a stark reminder of our ongoing battle with the sewage pollution problem but also celebrates the concept of community and how we have all come together as sea lovers to try and enforce change.”
They thank Shepherd Neame and the Old Neptune for providing the sculptures’ first home.
Banning dividends would have more impact
When asked their view on the government’s water company bonus ban announcement, SOS Whitstable commented:
“Although we support stronger regulations on the water companies, this regulation just doesn’t go far enough in our opinion. We believe there should be a ban on dividends which will have more impact and, ultimately, criminal prosecutions like we see in other industries.”
Water campaigner and SOS Whitstable supporter, Feargal Sharkey, points out that the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs’ announcement is just a reannouncement of a policy first put forward on 30 March 2023, 319 days ago, and is “nothing less than a gimmick”. Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats say it does not go far enough.
Press release from LibDem candidate in Tunbridge Wells, Mike Martin
Earlier this week it was announced that the owners of South East Water have provided a £150mn loan to help the company as it struggles with higher financing costs on its debt.
This comes despite claiming in an August 2023 letter to Mike Martin, prospective Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, that they were financially sound.
The loan comes on the back of the company making a £2.3mn dividend payout at the end of last year that Martin said was “beyond a joke”.
South East Water is currently under investigation by regulator Ofwat over its service to customers and its record in maintaining a water supply. The company has also been named as the worst-performing firm providing water only by the Consumer Council for Water.
Time South East Water was made a public benefit company
Responding to the announcement, Martin said:
“Despite assurances to me from South East Water that they were financially sound, it is clear that this was untrue and the company needed a bailout from its parent company.
“The blame for this lies squarely with the government for not regulating the industry well enough and with Greg Clark for ineffective scrutiny on behalf of the people of Tunbridge Wells.
“South East Water paid a dividend at the end of 2023 which was a disgrace. The government and Ofwat should have stepped in and made sure the company spent the money on fixing leaky pipes and stopping sewage discharges*.
“It is time that South East Water was made a public benefit company, where service delivery is prioritised over dividends and debt, to sort out this mess.”
*Editor’s note:
In fact, South East Water supplies the drinking water to households in the South East, but it is Southern Water that is responsible for sewage, both in Whitstable and in Tunbridge Wells.
Both companies have to deal with leaky pipes in their ageing network.
