Far too slow

THERE was something that didn’t seem quite right about the background to your recent story on the 25-year investment planned by United Utilities to stop the shocking levels of sewage spewing into our rivers and streams (“United Utilities sets out plan to reduce sewer pollution in Cheshire” - 13th. March). 

The length of time it was going to take - a whole quarter of a century - doesn’t suggest urgency. The fact that most of the projects will only be completed at the very end of this period gives little comfort. Moreover, the timing, in an election year, and after years of growing concern about the state of our waterways, seems cynical at best. However, what worried me most was a nagging suspicion that United Utilities’ priorities may not have been as heroic as the report suggests. In fact, I have learnt that the company, as a whole, distributed approximately £1.7 billion to shareholders over the 6 years to March 2023: Over 25 years, this would amount to £7.1 billion, or over a third of the total the company intends to spend on repairs across the North West. Put it another way, the £420 million required to stop the pollution of our Cheshire rivers could have been found a long time ago, if only the company had switched a fraction of the money they used for dividend payments to doing the job they are supposed to do: keeping our waterways clean and safe. It leaves a nasty taste.

Published today in the Knutsford Guardian