£90m fine due to low investment says water boss

The chief executive of Southern Water has said a £90m fine for dumping raw sewage in the sea came about because the company had not invested enough.

Lawrence Gosden told BBC South East that, following repeated floods in Hastings, East Sussex, it would be working with the local council to find a long-term solution.

The latest event in October 2023 led to the evacuation of the Priory Leisure Centre.

The £90m fine was imposed in July 2021 after a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency.

"The company just hadn't adequately invested in the capacity of its sewage works to be able to deal with the volume of sewage," Mr Gosden said.

"That meant some of the overflows were operating way too early and releasing when they shouldn't have been."

He says since the fine was imposed Southern Water has been building extra capacity into its systems, with work due to finish this year.

Over 20,000 monitors are being installed in pipes to locate blockages, with plans to use new technology to keep the rainwater that runs off buildings and roads from going into the sewage system.

The centre of Hastings was flooded in October 2023

Mr Gosden also says a major programme of replacing old metal pipes with plastic ones will be needed to reduce leaks.

He said: "We've gone as far as we can just by fixing leaks, we're at about 17% at the moment and we want to halve it over the next 25 years.

"That work is beginning in the next five years with 500km (310 miles) of new mains coming into the region."

Southern Water says it is investing to try and stop sewage overflows reaching the sea

With water bills set to rise, Mr Gosden says the biggest hit is currently being taken by shareholders.

"The turnaround plan we've put together is being paid for through the funds our shareholders put into the company 18 months ago - £1.6bn worth of equity.

"There's been no return to shareholders since 2017, effectively operating as a not-for-profit," he said.

"If you look at our annual report you'll see that we've made a loss, and that's a deliberate loss because we're investing."

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