It’s unfair to pay higher bills and sit in traffic to help a private company
If you tried to drive through Sneyd Green or Birches Head this spring, you already know the irritation that I am going to talk about. At the beginning of the year our local roads were completely gridlocked. The works on Leek New Road brought traffic to an absolute standstill. It was a stressful, noisy mess that turned short morning commutes into endurance test and at times made our roads and side streets incredibly dangerous.
At the time, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and I stepped in and pushed the water company, Severn Trent, to put down their tools and rethink their actions. We secured a temporary break from the chaos, but I have some bad news. That break is officially over, and more water company roadworks are coming.
On Monday 20th July, the cones and temporary traffic lights are returning to Mornington Road, and they will be there until late August. The council forced them to wait for the summer holidays, hoping that lighter school-run traffic will make the disruption easier to bear. While I am glad we have had a few weeks of light relief, the reality is that our summer journeys are about to get much more difficult again. And don’t expect a quick fix, because this massive £25,000,000 pound water main project isn’t scheduled to finish until April 2027.
But Traffic is only half the story, and although these improvements are ultimately for our benefit, someone murkier is lurking inside Severn Trent.
Right now, Severn Trent is asking us to change how we live.
On Saturday 11th July, the company recorded its highest single day of water demand ever. During the summer heat, they had to pump an extra four hundred million litres of water a day to keep our taps flowing. Now, they are urging us to do our bit to cut back on water use to avoid formal restrictions. At the same time, many of our neighbours in Sneyd Green are being moved onto water meters. Because our region was officially labelled seriously water-stressed, Severn Trent has the legal power to fit smart meters, whether we want them or not.
Many residents are terrified that their bills are about to skyrocket, taking away their control over their own household budgets. It feels incredibly unfair that we are told to save every drop, accept higher bills, and sit in endless traffic jams, all to help a private company run its business.
The bitterest pill to swallow, however, is where the money we pay is going. While we are stuck in traffic or worrying about our water bills, Severn Trent’s new chief executive, James Jesic, is preparing for a massive payday. The company recently doubled his long-term reward package to an eye-watering £3,100,000.
How does a company justify these rewards when they were responsible for more than 300 pollution incidents in 2024 alone? It is a classic double standard. We are asked to make sacrifices for the environment and the local network, while the bosses at the top receive millions of pounds despite a terrible environmental record. Along with MPs from across the Severn Trent water area, we’ve raised our objections
I believe we deserve better. If we are expected to cooperate with disruptive roadworks and save water, we should at least see our money being spent on cleaner rivers and fairer bills, rather than lining the pockets of corporate executives.