Feargal Sharkey has suggested he cannot see enough political leadership “on the horizon” to tackle Britain’s freshwater emergency.
The Undertones star and river activist, 65, blamed incompetence for the dire state of the country’s chalk streams.
Speaking at the UK River Summit yesterday, he said: “Chalk streams are endangered. Most of them are failing ecologies. Most of them are over-abstracted to hell and back and if they’re not over-abstracted, most have some kind of effluent.
“For me, what brings us all here and what people are going to have to try to resolve is a little thing called ‘incompetence’.”
Feargal told how the country’s precious chalk streams have been “pumped to exhaustion”.
Britain’s chalk streams are unique – there are only about 200 chalk streams in the world, and most of them are in the southern half of England.
Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock.
Feargal said: “Endless governments later [with] privatisation, nationalisation, endless changes of regulator – all we’ve discovered is complete lack of strategic planning, thinking and political oversight.”
Mr Sharkey said all points led to a “lack of leadership”, adding: “It wasn’t there. It’s not here now and I’m not sure I can see it on the horizon.”
Meanwhile consumer trust in water companies risks being “irreversibly damaged” unless they see a sustained improvement in the sector’s care of the environment, an annual survey has found.
Household satisfaction with water companies across all measures has seen an unprecedented decline, the Consumer Council for Water found.
The survey of almost 5,000 households, which has been taken for 13 years, recorded the starkest decline in customer satisfaction with how companies clean and manage wastewater before its release back into the environment. Just 35% were satisfied with this, compared to 88% a decade ago.
Satisfaction with companies’ efforts to minimise sewer flooding has also plummeted over the same period, falling to 43% compared to 85% in 2014.
Just half of households agreed their company cared about the service it provided, also down 14%, while 55% felt what they were being charged for services was fair, down 9% from last year to its lowest ever level.
Trust in water companies also reached its lowest level – a score of 6.37 out of 10 – since the survey began. Every water company saw its trust score fall, with energy suppliers overtaking water for the first time as a more trusted utility across England and Wales.
Companies in the south east of England generally fared worse but the picture elsewhere – particularly on environmental matters – remained broadly negative.
CCW chief executive Mike Keil said: “These are the worst results we’ve ever seen in our survey and it largely stems from customers’ concerns over companies’ environmental performance. It’s little surprise people are questioning whether they are getting a fair deal.
“Trust won’t be rebuilt and customers will not tolerate future bill rises unless they see and feel a step change in the service they receive from their water company – whether that’s having the confidence to swim at their local beach or experiencing a more reliable water supply. If customers are going to be asked to pay considerably more, they have a right to expect far more in return.”
