Fears of 'water rationing' without controversial reservoir, government claims
Oxfordshire campaigners against plans for a mega reservoir near Abingdon have dismissed government claims Britain will face water shortages.
Water Minister Emma Hardy warned that the country will face 'water rationing like we have in the Mediterranean' without new reservoirs.
It comes as controversial plans to start on massive infrastructure projects near Abingdon are pushed ahead by Labour with the South East Strategic Reservoir south west of the town expected to be nearly as big as Gatwick Airport, holding 150 billion litres of water.
READ MORE: Murder probe after death of 40-year-old woman in Abingdon
The minister suggested that water shortages could hit households and businesses in the next decade if the government fails to build new artificial lakes as she unveiled plans to speed up the planning approvals process.
Abingdon Reservoir has been a controversial project for more than a decade (Image: Thames Water) The government plans to bring in legislation that make reservoir proposals 'nationally significant' in terms of planning, giving ministers, rather than local councils, the final say on whether projects go ahead.
At the same time, Environment Secretary Steve Reed intervened to bring two projects planned in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire into the 'nationally significant' category.
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But campaigners against the Abingdon project said the changes were for nothing.
READ MORE: Abingdon locals 'worried' as Abbey Gardens shut by police
Derek Stork, spokesperson for Group Against Reservoir Development or GARD, said: 'This statement is just the government trying to look as though it is taking action, when really it's not taking action at all.
'These reservoirs, as is the case with the SESRO proposal, were already nationally significant projects so won't be sped-up.'
Water minister Emma Hardy meets schoolchildren (Image: West Oxfordshire District Council) Mr Stork said that the government already took control of the Abingdon reservoir project by approving the development consent order, to allow the £2.7million project to go ahead without a public enquiry.
GARD, along with organisations Safer Waters and CPRE Oxfordshire, will be appealing this decision at a High Court judicial review hearing, scheduled for two days starting June 26.
READ MORE: Red Arrows to fly over Oxfordshire: When and where to watch
Mr Stork said: 'We started off opposing this reservoir, but what we've got round to is the system is just totally not fit for purpose. That's why we're taking the government to court. This reservoir is only symptomatic of what's wrong with the system.'
'We think the way these mega projects are proposed and analysed is totally wrong. We can't find valid justifications for it – because they aren't there.
'A successful public inquiry into against the biggest project is what's going to change the government's thinking about this.
'By winning the public inquiry we hope not only to defeat SESRO, but also to change the system. That decision would really resonate.'
READ MORE: Police urge public to avoid popular Oxfordshire park
Current plans are for the reservoir to be delivered by Thames Water to supply water in the southeast.
This is the second attempt at building the mega reservoir, after an attempt under the Conservative government failed following a public enquiry in 2010.
Thames Water previously said it 'welcomes the government's plans to improve infrastructure across the region'.
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Yahoo
21 minutes ago
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The policies Reform UK and Nigel Farage have announced this year
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21 minutes ago
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Can Nigel Farage boost Britain's birth rate?
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The Hill
26 minutes ago
- The Hill
The UK seeks to send a message to Moscow as it outlines higher defense spending
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