\n In a strongly worded letter, borough council leader Cllr Dr Paul Harvey and cabinet member for strategic planning and infrastructure, Cllr Andy Konieczko, say the companies\u2019 responses to their earlier demands for urgent, binding action on the River Loddon and River Test are \u201can insult to every resident of Basingstoke and Deane\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\n They accuse the privatised water giants of collecting \u201cbillions from customers\u201d while presiding over years of pollution, then falling back on a \u201ctired playbook\u201d when challenged \u2013 \u201cblame the weather, announce an investment programme that never arrives, hope nobody looks too closely\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\n Thames Water in the north of the Borough (Image: Cllr Paul Harvey)\n<\/p>\n
\n Southern Water recently told the Gazette that storm overflows during this winter\u2019s exceptional rainfall \u201chappened to prevent homes, schools and hospitals from flooding\u201d and pointed to an \u00a38.8bn investment programme between 2025 and 2030, including \u00a31.5bn to cut spills and \u201chundreds of millions\u201d to remove nutrients such as phosphate and nitrates from wastewater.\n<\/p>\n
\n But the councillors say that line \u201cis not an explanation, it is a disgrace\u201d. They write: \u201cThis is a company whose own chief executive told parliament its pollution record was \u2018inexcusable\u2019, now telling our residents the sewage destroying our rivers was actually protecting them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n