Regulator’s Response to SE Water Failings is “Woeful”

On March 6, 2026March 6, 2026 By southboroughnewsLeave a comment

A group of Tunbridge Wells residents has attacked the water industry regulator for not taking strong enough measures to secure water supplies in the town.

The water regulator OFWAT said on Thursday it planned to fine South East Water £22 million for supply disruptions in a period ending three years ago.

But local resident Jonathan Hawker (pictured below) of the group, Dry Wells Action, said: “We are extremely disappointed that there is no action to impose leadership on this company, or to force upon it a remedial action plan for urgent improvements and expansion of the infrastructure serving Tunbridge Wells.”

Jonathan Hawker continued: “This is great news for David Hinton (chief executive of South East Water). He will continue in post, with remuneration (including vast non-performance related bonuses) of £500k each year.”

Jonathan Hawker said OFWAT’s announcement highlighted “the shortcomings of the organisations that are supposed to be representing consumers’ interests.”

He said: “Hot off the tails of the public relations own goal by the Consumer Council for Water, which decided to sneak South East Water’s chief executive, David Hinton (pictured below), into Tunbridge Wells to be “held to account by consumers”, in order to launch their consumer panel initiative, without thinking how it would look to have no consumer from Tunbridge Wells present, OFWAT has now hit us with the news that its sole sanction on the failing water company will be a fine that we will end up paying.”

Jonathan Hawker stated: “Given that South East Water has £1.3bn in debt on a turnover of less than £300mn, from which it made a loss of almost £20mn last year, it should be obvious to OFWAT that consumers will end up paying this fine either through increases in water bills or through the additional cost of debt at the company.”

He concluded: “Hitting consumers who have already suffered is not regulation. It is an admission that the regulator has no means to hold this company to account. OFWAT’s announcement is woeful.”

The Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, Mike Martin (pictured below), told the BBC the OFWAT fine indicated a repeated failure by South East Water to learn lessons. But the MP said the penalty was “completely toothless.”

Mike Martin said: “When you’re looking at a company that’s a billion pounds in debt, they’re not worried about a £22 million fine. What we need is something that has bite. And I think really it’s only the government that can make the decisions to push OFWAT to impose things onto companies like South East Water…and cause them to change their behaviour.”

Mike Martin MP continued: “When Emma Reynolds, the Environment Secretary, actually came to Tunbridge Wells in January, she announced that she was writing to OFWAT and asking them to investigate whether South East Water had breached the terms of their licence. All these water companies need a water licence from the government in order to operate. So the government DOES have purchase on these water companies.”

Mike Martin believes that a decision that South East Water had breached its licence would allow a “special administrative regime” to be imposed to force through investment by the company.

Mike Martin discussed the failures at the Pembury Water Treatment works which led to 50,000 people losing their drinking water for two weeks in December (area affected shown above).

Mike Martin revealed: I’ve pulled together a group of water experts to assess what needs to be done at Pembury to bring it up to scratch. To get over the under-investment backlog that we’ve suffered from for the last 20 years, it’s about 50 million quid.”

Mike Martin argued: “If they’d spent that money and it (Pembury water works) hadn’t fallen over, they wouldn’t be paying fines. They wouldn’t be paying 30 million in compensation and operational costs when they have an outage. Local businesses wouldn’t be losing out.”

Mike Martin continued: “So if you put them into SAR (Special Administrative Regime), when they fail their licence, then you force through rapid investment and upscaling in pinch points like Pembury Water Treatment Works. That is what would fix this system. Water treatment works by water treatment works, storage reservoir by storage reservoir.”

Mike Martin concluded: “The government has to get a grip and get a hold of these companies.”

Meanwhile, water industry expert Charles Hedges (pictured below) told Southborough News he was waiting for a full report from the Drinking Water Inspectorate on last year’s failures at Pembury Water Treatment Works before commenting in detail.

Charles Hedges said: “South East water needs to do two things. First, provide a comprehensive chronological description of all that has gone wrong since 9th of November. And the next thing, they they need to show an organisation chart that demonstrates they’ve got the skills to undertake the engineering works to rectify all the mistakes.”

The Interim Chief Executive of OFWAT, Chris Walters, was asked by the BBC on Thursday why the regulator’s report on the 2020-2023 failures had taken three years to produce.

Chris Walters replied: “Investigations do take time, especially investigations like this, because they involve a large amount of very complex, detailed engineering information that has to be very carefully assessed…We knew that we had to be specific and careful and detailed. So we didn’t make any slip ups, and we can do the best for customers.”

Chris Walters also rejected the suggestion that customers will end up paying South East Water’s fine: “We are proposing a £22 million fine. Crucially, that’s a fine that is paid by the company and its investors, not customers. It won’t show up on customer bills.”

Chris Walters continued: “The enforcement audit will require South East Water to take concrete, specific, legally enforcible steps to do better….South East Water needs to step up and take more ownership of the problem. Take the specific steps in the action plan and work more constructively with us and with other regulators in future.”

OFWAT has opened a new investigation into South East Water’s failure to supply drinking water in December and January.

It’s also been revealed that South East Water attempted to use the courts to stop OFWAT from announcing its proposed fine, arguing that releasing the news would have a serious impact on the the company’s reputation and its credit rating.

A judge threw out South East Water’s interim injunction at a hearing in the High Court on Monday.

According to a report on the website Kent Online, South East Water claimed OFWAT had “predetermined” its findings and argued the regulator’s decision was “legally-flawed” and “riddled with errors”.

Nicholas Gibson, representing the company at the High Court, argued its shareholders “target strong investment grade credit ratings” and that maintaining those “has been – and continues to be – challenging.”

A statement presented to the court by South East Water’s chief financial officer, Andrew Farmer (pictured below), said: “I consider it very likely that publication of OFWAT’s legally flawed proposed decision, and therefore the detailed findings in the 240-page decision, would seriously damage confidence in South East Water among those working in the finance sector with…very serious adverse consequences for South East Water’s business.”

Mr Farmer added the company feared OFWAT’s report being published would lead to a potential “downgrade” to its credit rating and make it “much harder for South East Water to secure the additional financing which it requires.”

In his judgment, Mr Justice Chamberlain said, that given its provisional findings, OFWAT was under a “statutory duty to publish.”

The judge called the company’s attempt to block publication to protect the company’s reputation with investors and “keep the credit ratings agencies in the dark” as “objectionable in principle.”

The judge added blocking publication would create a situation where the company’s credit ratings were based on “materially incomplete information.”

He said this would mean “potential lenders might enter into contracts which they would not otherwise have entered into and existing investors might decide to retain their investments in circumstances where they would otherwise have exited.”

Mr Justice Chamberlain also dismissed the company’s “objectionable” plea that the company “should be allowed to control when and to whom the proposed decision is disclosed.”

A spokesperson for South East Water said: “We recently filed for judicial review of an OFWAT draft decision and sought an injunction. Following a hearing, the court did not grant the interim injunction. We respect the court’s decision on this.”

South East Water concluded: “We are now considering OFWAT’s draft decision and will respond via the appropriate channels, ahead of its final decision. We have no further comment at this time.”

Iconic TV and Film Period Costumes on Display

On February 27, 2026 By southboroughnewsLeave a comment

A dress worn by Helena Bonham-Carter in the film “Room with a View” is among dozens of stunning and intricate costumes on display for one more week at an exhibition in London.

The displays are only 45 minutes away from Southborough at the Fashion and Textile Museum next to London Bridge station.

The exhibition is a very rare chance to see close up the costumes worn by some of Britain’s greatest actors over the past 60 years in films and TV period dramas such as the BBC’s hugely successful 1995 Pride and Prejudice adaptation.

Colin Firth’s and Jennifer Ehle’s authentic clothing styles from 1810s are pictured below.

Mr Darcy’s sisters’ flamboyant frocks (below) were made to be “the period equivalent of Gucci”, so they would contrast with the simple printed dresses worn by the Bennet sisters.

The exhibition celebrates the London-based costume house, Cosprop, which was founded by John Bright in 1965 and now holds over a million costumes and supporting accessories.

Cosprop’s ethos was to develop a more authentic style of costume design based on the close study of original clothing. Examples in the exhibition range from Great Expectations (1967) to Downton Abbey and Mrs Harris Goes to Paris (2022).

Among the many highlights in the displays are replicas of the wedding outfits from the ITV series Victoria worn by Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes. The white wedding dress popularised the lasting tradition of the bride wearing white.

A delicately embroidered 1815 dress worn by Anya Taylor-Joy when she played Emma in the 2020 film (shown below) is also available to view until 8th March 2026.

The exhibition continues Tuesdays to Saturdays . More details at:
https://fashiontextilemuseum.org/

New School Entrance Test at Weald of Kent

On February 27, 2026 By southboroughnewsLeave a comment

A state Grammar School in Tonbridge says it’s improving access for girls whose parents can’t afford to pay for tutors to coach the Kent County Council 11-plus test.

Weald of Kent Grammar School is to introduce its own entrance test, which will sit alongside the Kent Test as an equally valid route of entry to the school.

Weald of Kent Grammar School opened a so-called “satellite annexe” in Sevenoaks in 2017 to accomodate 450 girls. In the sixth firm, the school admits boys and girls.

The school says the new assessment has been designed to test girls only on content covered in state primary schools up to the end of Year 5. Many local state primary schools apparently don’t teach maths to the level required for the Kent Test by the time students take the exam at the start of Year 6.

Weald of Kent says the change “reflects the school’s commitment to fairness, inclusion and accessibility, and aims to encourage families who may not previously have considered a grammar school to apply if they have a bright, academic daughter who would thrive in an aspirational yet caring environment.”

Headteacher Richard Booth (pictured below) said: “This new assessment is about aptitude, not advantage. We want to ensure that a girl’s potential, curiosity and academic ability are what matter – not whether her family has the means or inclination to pay for tutoring”.

Mr Booth continued: “By offering a bespoke test alongside the Kent Test, we are opening the door wider so that more local girls can see Weald of Kent as a school for them.”

“We are excited about the opportunities this creates,” added Mr Booth. “Our message is simple: if you have a bright, academic girl who loves learning, Weald of Kent could be the right place for her – without pressure, without advantage, and with every opportunity to meet her full potential.”

By removing the expectation of tutoring, Weald of Kent says it hopes to reassure families that preparation can remain focused on learning in primary school, rather than intensive exam coaching. It also aims to reduce the pressure often associated with applying for secondary school.

Robin Jones, Chair of the Trustees of Weald of Kent said: “As a state-funded grammar school, Weald of Kent is proud to be free, inclusive and rooted in its local community. We want every girl who joins us to feel a strong sense of belonging, to feel supported and valued, and to know that high academic standards and inclusivity go hand in hand.”

Weald of Kent Grammar School was recently voted among the top twenty schools nationally for being safe.

The school says the new initiative marks another step in making Weald of Kent increasingly accessible to local girls from Tonbridge, Sevenoaks and surrounding areas – particularly those who may not have previously seen grammar schools as an option for their family.

New Council Approved for Tonbridge Town

On February 26, 2026 By southboroughnewsLeave a comment

Elections are to be held next year for a brand new Tonbridge Town Council.

A decision to go ahead with the extra tier of local government was taken at a meeting of Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council on Tuesday.

Support for a Tonbridge Town Council was strengthened by the Labour government’s plans to abolish Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council and replace it with a much larger unitary authority, likely to be more distant from Tonbridge residents – probably in Maidstone.

This new unitary authority is set to also mean the winding up of Kent County Council in a plan the government hopes will lead to reduced administrative duplication and more efficient local government.

Southborough and Sevenoaks already have town councils as well as Borough councils and Kent County Council covering the same area. All other areas in Tonbridge and Malling Borough also already have either a town or parish council (town and parish councils have the same powers).

Town Councils generally look after local parks, cemeteries and smaller venues, like village halls.

The new Tonbridge Town Council will begin work in May 2027 following the scheduled elections.

The second consultation on the Town Council proposal was held during November and December 2025 and attracted 897 responses. 62% of people that responded stated they believe the town council should have a mayor.

The first consultation ran from June to July 2025 and received 3,257 responses, representing approximately 12% of the eligible population. 72% of respondents supported the creation of a town council for Tonbridge, while 23% were opposed and 5% were unsure.

There will be 18 elected councillors in six wards across the town.

The wards will have the same boundaries as the existing six borough wards:

Cage Green and Angel – 4 Councillors
Higham – 3 Councillors
Oast – 1 Councillor
Judd – 3 Councillors
Trench – 3 Councillors
Vauxhall – 4 Councillors

There would be an overall increased cost to Tonbridge council tax payers arising from the additional overheads and any extra services the town council chose to deliver. The town council will charge a precept on top of the Borough’s bill.

Charges for businesses would not be affected as they are subject to business rates, which are calculated separately from council tax.

SE Water Boss David Hinton “Set for New Pay Rise” after 47% Increase

On February 3, 2026February 3, 2026 By southboroughnews1 Comment

The “Dry Wells Action” Tunbridge Wells community group has condemned Monday’s decision of the board of South East Water to keep its chief executive, David Hinton (pictured below), in post and says it now expects him to be given another pay rise in April.

Jonathan Hawker who’s Chairman of “Dry Wells Action” says he’s identified that David Hinton is being paid an extra £50,000 so-called “cash allowance” to deal with regulators probing the company’s activities. That’s on top of a 30% increase in David Hinton’s basic salary last April from £307,000 to £400,000 a year.

Jonathan Hawker (pictured below centre) says that effectively gave Mr Hinton a 47% increase in annual pay for the current year at a time when the company increased consumer bills by 20%.

In a statement, South East Water told Southborough News: “South East Water remains committed to a remuneration framework that supports a performance culture, and recognises success but does not reward poor performance.”

The SE Water statement continued: “The remuneration committee, led by independent non-executive directors, approved a 30.2 per cent increase in the base salary of the CEO. This is detailed on page 165 of our annual report, and page 166 details the cash allowance provided to each director in relation to the CMA process. We can confirm that no bonus payment was made for operational performance for the year 2024/25.”

Jonathan Hawker of “Dry Wells Action” said: “David Hinton should not be rewarded for his repeated failing. Dealing with regulators is obviously part of the day job of the chief executive of any regulated company, so why is the Board giving Hinton more just to do something he would be doing anyway?”

Six MPs have now demanded the removal of David Hinton.

Helen Whately MP for Faversham and Mid Kent (pictured above), said she was furious that the company’s Monday board meeting resulted in a decision to stand by Mr Hinton.

She said: “It’s a kick in the teeth [for] all those people who had days without water, not least all those vulnerable householders who were left without emergency supplies, along with livestock, businesses and schools.

Helen Whately concluded: “I have no confidence in the current leadership to turn South East Water around. The Chief Executive will keep on enjoying his six figure salary into the foreseeable future. It’s a disgrace.”

South East Water is due to hold its annual general meeting later this month after announcing a further 7% increase in water bills for the coming year.

A dispute between South East Water and OFWAT over the company’s 5-year business plan to 2030 is being considered by the competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority. The CMA is due to announce its findings in March.

Jonathan Hawker of “Dry Wells Action” said the £50,000 “cash allowance” for Mr Hinton was “buried in the company’s annual report” and was “wholly inappropriate”. It is not categorised by SE Water as either pay or bonus.

South East Water said the extra £50k was put in place to recognise the additional hours which Mr Hinton would need to devote to dealing with the water regulator, OFWAT.

Jonathan Hawker said: “What we really need is for Chris Train, South East Water’s chairman, to get a grip, stop rewarding failure, and replace Hinton immediately with someone who can do the job and announce urgently a plan to sort out the problems faced here in Tunbridge Wells and beyond.”

Jonathan Hawker continued: “South East Water has made no announcement of any plans to address the issues here and has avoided public debate.”

According to “Dry Wells Action”, under David Hinton’s five years of leadership, SE Water has gone from an annual profit of £37.7m to a loss of £19.8m last year. Its borrowings now exceed £1.3bn. The company has paid £249m in dividends to shareholders over the past decade.

Expert is “Horrified” by Tunbridge Wells Water Systems

On January 26, 2026 By southboroughnewsLeave a comment

A chartered geologist has criticised a lack of board level technical expertise at South East Water, as investigations continue into how the taps ran dry in Tunbridge Wells in recent weeks.

The geologist with long experience in the water supply industry is Charles Hedges (pictured below) and he spoke to the Southborough News YouTube channel last week.

Charles Hedges said: “What I don’t understand is that you have a (South East Water) board with … no chartered engineer, chartered chemist, or chartered microbiologist. I find that very odd.”

He continued: “I’m worried about the lack of technical expertise in the area of a chartered civil engineer who understands water supply, a lack of a chartered chemist who understands water process treatment, and I’m worried about a lack of chartered microbiologist, who understands microbiology”.

Charles Hedges also stated: “Pembury has had a potential issue with bacteria, so … there should be a director of microbiology on the board.”

South East Water told Southborough News in a statement that it would be investing in improving the Pembury water treatment works over the next five years.

South East Water also provided a list of professional qualifications obtained by its current eight-member board of directors. This states that one of its non-executive directors, Caroline Sheridan, is a chartered civil engineer, while Mark McArdle is a “Master of Chemistry.” But there was no sign of expertise in microbiology.

The board has 4 people with accountancy and commerce backgrounds. The independent Chair, Chris Train, is a Chartered Engineer, while Chief Executive David Hinton has worked at South East Water for more than 25 years having studied for a degree in Biotechnology.

The interview with Charles Hedges is included in a comprehensive video report on the public meeting at the Old Auction House in Tunbridge Wells held last Wednesday, which was organised by the newly formed “Dry Wells Action” group.

Here is a link to view the half-hour report on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlhXewN4Go4

“Dry Wells Action” was founded by Jonathan Hawker (pictured below at the meeting), who told us “absolute rage” caused him to start the group.

Neither South East Water or any of the regulators said they were able to attend the meeting due to the continuing investigations into the company’s performance.

Jonathan Hawker stated: “It was the third time we lost water completely in our household. We had the incident a couple of years ago, around Christmas. We had the incident at the end of last year before Christmas.”

Jonathan Hawker continued: “We thought we were through it. We weren’t, and after, you know, almost a week of intermittent water, it just went completely and I just had had enough, really.”

He added: “And so I decided that I would launch a campaign group – and campaign for a resilient water supply for Tunbridge Wells, and that’s what I’ve done.”

Here is the group’s website link: https://www.drywellsaction.com/

More than a hundred residents attended the meeting last Wednesday despite an evening of heavy January rain.

In other comments, geologist Charles Hedges told Southborough News that the lack of up-to-date real time monitoring of water inflows into the Pembury reservoir: “quite frankly horrifies me, bearing in mind, this is a town of, what, 70,000 people.”

Charles Hedges thinks the Pembury site should have been updated more than 20 years ago.

In response, South East Water sent Southborough News this statement from the Chief Executive, David Hinton:

“Our priority is improving South East Water in the future. We are strategically focused on our Business Plan and committed to delivering the infrastructure investment needed. This will improve our resilience as we face the challenges of climate change and population growth.

“We have a large capital investment programme planned over this five-year period (2025-2030), and Pembury water treatment works is part of that programme. In advance of this full refurbishment, a number of improvements and changes are being made at the site in line with the current regulatory notice. Some of these are complete, and others are still ongoing, all of which are in line with the regulators’ timescales.”

David Hinton continued: “My focus has been, and always will be, to lead South East Water into the position it needs to be to face the challenges all water companies in England and Wales have.

“Those challenges include climate change, growth in population and the urgent need for investment in our ageing infrastructure.

“Our Business Plan sets out how we will do this. It’s an ambitious plan and it is a robust plan.

“There is a lot to do to make sure South East Water has the resilience it needs to make sure our customers have the service they not only expect, but deserve.

“We apologise sincerely for the supply issues our customers have had. A combination of factors has meant we have not been able to provide the continuous, uninterrupted tap water service our customers rightly expect.

“We will always work with our regulators and stakeholders to make improvements and are transparent in everything we do.

“We have the expertise and dedication in our teams at South East Water and we will use innovation and technology to improve our service.”

You can also listen to the audio of the half-hour of interviews by downloading the West Kent Talking podcast.

Among those others who spoke to Southborough News on the video were local business owner Matthew Sankey, Marianne Amos from “Dry Wells Action” and a Liberal Democrat borough councillor representing Pantiles, Jamie Johnson. The piece ended with the views of local residents Jerry Bolton and Christopher Jackson.