South East Water’s new chief executive, John Halsall, has been urged to deliver urgent improvements to the company’s infrastructure, customer service and communications following repeated water outages affecting Tunbridge Wells residents.
At a round-table meeting hosted by Mike Martin MP, local residents registered on the company’s Priority Services Register shared their experiences with Mr Halsall. They highlighted the physical and emotional toll of repeated disruptions, including outages in the town this year and before Christmas last year.
Mr Martin said the meeting was organised to ensure the new chief executive understood the impact of water supply failures and poor communication on vulnerable residents and the wider community.
Following the discussion, Mr Martin said he felt ‘optimistic’ that the company’s new leadership recognised the scale of the problems and the need for practical solutions.
The meeting also covered an infrastructure resilience plan for Pembury Water Treatment Works and the Performance Improvement Plan imposed on South East Water by industry regulator Ofwat.
According to the meeting organiser, Mr Halsall acknowledged the scale of investment required to improve the resilience of the local water network and prevent further outages.
The meeting comes amid mounting pressure on South East Water to improve its performance following repeated supply interruptions across its network.
Mr Halsall is expected to provide a costed plan, with timescales, for infrastructure upgrades in the Tunbridge Wells area in the coming weeks.
