Petitions and Public Address
Decision:
Dr D Stork CPhys FinstP Hon Chairman, Group Against Resevoir Development spoke in support of Agenda Item 18 (Motion by Councillor Mike Fox-Davies).
Minutes:
Council received the following public address:
Dr D Stork CPhys FinstP Hon Chairman, Group Against Resevoir Development (GARD) spoke in support of Agenda Item 18 (Motion by Councillor Mike Fox-Davies) against proposals to build a huge 'bunded' (or walled) reservoir in the area between the villages of Steventon – East Hanney and Drayton. GARD also campaigned in favour of environmentally sound and sustainable water resource policies for the south-east.
GARD had been opposing Thames Water's plans for over 20 years, and in 2010, successfully took a leading role in the fight against the reservoir (with Local Councils and Campaign to Protect Rural England support) at the Public Inquiry. The PI threw out the reservoir proposal and stated that, in future Thames Water should conduct proper options assessments for their Water Resource Management Plans.
The reservoir size was 150 Million cubic metres in all plans. This was 50% larger than the plan thrown out at the 2010 Public Inquiry. The reservoir, which would probably be the biggest bunded reservoir in the world, would contain 150 Million tonnes of water behind its retaining banks. Its construction, over 10 years, would devastate quality of life in the local area. Once built, its visual impact on neighbouring villages was huge and represented a threat to flood prevention in the area.
A new feature was that Thames Water now intended to sell water from the reservoir to other SE companies outside their area. Figures show that 40% of reservoir water is for sale after 2065.
He called upon the Council to support GARD and DEFRA in obtaining a second public consultation when the revised Thames Water's draft Water Resources Management Plan (dWRMP19) was produced.