Latest news with #EmmaHardy
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
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. Flash Sale Alert! 🌟 Dive deeper into the stories that shape Oxfordshire with Oxford Mail. Unlimited local news, an ad-free app, and a digital replica of our print edition—all with 80 per cent fewer ads on our site. 🗞️ 👇#StayInformed — Oxford Mail (@TheOxfordMail) May 26, 2025 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'.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Climate
- Reuters
Drought declared for northwest England amid sunniest spring on record
LONDON, May 29 (Reuters) - Britain said on Thursday the northwest of England was now officially in drought status after the driest start to spring in decades caused water levels in rivers and reservoirs to decline. Through March, April and May, Britain has basked in its sunniest spring on record, according to the Met Office weather forecaster, though the lack of rainfall has raised some concerns about conserving water supply. The Environment Agency (EA) said reservoir storage levels in northwest England - home to the picturesque Lake District as well as the cities of Manchester and Liverpool - were lower than during the same time in the 1984, 1995 and 2022 drought years. Scientists say climate change is making droughts and drier summers more frequent. The EA said it would ensure that water companies, including major northwest supplier United Utilities (UU.L), opens new tab, are ready to support customers to reduce demand if needed. "I'm doing everything in my power to hold United Utilities to account to ensure we have the regular supply of water that is needed across the region," Water Minister Emma Hardy said in a statement. The agency said ministers would convene a meeting of the National Drought Group next Thursday to assess the situation across the country.
Leader Live
3 days ago
- Business
- Leader Live
UK faces ‘water rationing like Mediterranean' without new reservoirs
Emma Hardy has suggested 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. The Government has unveiled plans to legislate to bring reservoirs into the 'nationally significant' planning category, giving ministers instead of local councils the final say on whether projects can go ahead. Environment Secretary Steve Reed has also intervened to designate two projects as 'nationally significant' in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. 'We have a problem in our country where we're not going to have all of the drinking water that we need by the mid-2030s because we simply haven't built the reservoirs required,' Ms Hardy told GB News. She added: 'That's because the last government failed to get the infrastructure and the planning process was just way too complicated and bureaucratic. 'So what we're doing is we're taking control of building the reservoirs from the local planning authorities, putting that power into the hands of the Secretary of State so he can power through and deliver these, because if we don't, by the 2030s, we're going to be looking at water rationing like we have in the Mediterranean and that's unacceptable.' Italian and Spanish authorities are among those which restricted water use last year, according to the Associated Press, with Catalonia facing a drought emergency when water reserves fell below 16%. In England this year, the Environment Agency has found the North West and North East both saw their driest start to a calendar year since 1929, while the country as a whole endured its driest February to April period since 1956. Ms Hardy had earlier told Times Radio that changing how authorities green-light reservoirs could 'unlock tens of thousands of new homes and we can make sure that everybody has the drinking water that they desperately need'. She said: 'There are other things that we need to do to make sure that we have the drinking water that we need, and one of the other actions that we're taking is the £104 billion of record investment that's going into the water sector. 'This will help to reduce leaks from pipes by up to 17%, so that's another really important action that's needed just to make sure that everybody has the water that they need, because it's not just about building homes as well. 'We need water for growth – there are projects up and down the country where businesses are crying out for extra water that they need to make sure that they can get on with growing our economy, so this is a really important announcement and it's a beautiful win for nature as well.' Asked about the reservoir projects' impact on water bills, Ms Hardy said the £104 billion was 'private investment' and added that 'bills have already increased'. She said: 'I can completely understand why people are furious and angry about that, because it's like with any issue that you find – if you fix a problem when you first notice it, it doesn't cost you as much as if you leave it to get worse and worse and then you try and fix it, and that's what we've had under the Conservatives, they left the problems to get worse and worse.' Water companies in England have committed to bringing new reservoirs online by 2050, in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Kent, East Sussex and the West Midlands, with the potential to supply 670 million litres of extra water per day. The Fen Reservoir project between Chatteris and March in Cambridgeshire is set to supply 87 million litres a day to 250,000 homes, and to be completed in 2036. The Lincolnshire reservoir south of Sleaford would provide up to 166 million litres a day for up to 500,000 homes, operational by 2040.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Search resumes after girl's fall into reservoir
Emergency crews have resumed their search for a teenage girl who is believed to have fallen into a reservoir. Officers were first called to the dam at Baitings Reservoir, near Ripponden, at about 13:15 BST on Wednesday, after reports of a person in the water. Five West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service crews were also sent to the scene, as well as a crew from Greater Manchester, with the ambulance service also in attendance. Police said it was expected that the search at the reservoir, which had included underwater teams on Wednesday, would continue on Thursday. Emma Hardy MP, minister for water and flooding, told the BBC she was "praying for" good news. Hardy, Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice, said: "I'm so desperately sorry to hear about what's happened to this young girl, and my heart goes out to her family and friends who must be feeling absolutely devastated. "Of course, there's a live police search going on and I'm desperately hoping that we have the good news that we're all praying for." She added: "The priority has to be finding that girl - and hoping she's safe and sound." It's windy this afternoon, making the water in the reservoir very choppy. The boat used by police search teams has been rocked side-to-side as two people place white and blue buoys in the water. The focus has been around the dam wall, which arcs around in the middle of the valley. Family members watch on from near the main road as specialist officers try to find the young girl who went into the water more than 24 hours ago. It must be an agonising wait for news. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. Reservoir search after reports girl fell in water West Yorkshire Police
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Climate
- Daily Mirror
Reservoir plans fast-tracked as we could run out of water 'in next decade'
The Environment Agency has predicted a shortfall of almost five billion litres a day by 2050 as drier summers caused by the climate crisis has put the country at risk Without any new reservoirs parts of the UK would have been forced to experience extreme rationing to ensure there was enough drinking water, the government has warned. Emma Hardy, the minister for water and flooding, said that without the action the government is taking, the South East and East Anglia would have been under serious risk of water scarcity by 'the middle of the next decade', requiring Mediterranean-style rationing to ensure people had enough drinking water. The lack of reservoir capacity, combined with a rising population and drier summers caused by climate breakdown, has put the country at risk of water shortages. She added that years of underinvestment had left the country at risk of seasonal shortages, hosepipe bans and an inadequate supply of clean drinking water. The minister has announced the fast track construction of two new reservoirs, with another seven to come before 2050, after a three-decade period in which none were built. Work has already started on Havant Thicket reservoir in Hampshire, which is expected to be completed in the early 2030s. She said: 'The alternative is, you know, carry on as we have in the last 14 years. Do nothing. Let nothing happen. No reservoirs being built... And what do we end up with? A situation of rationing, more hosepipe bans, the situation that we see happening in different countries in the Mediterranean… I'm not prepared to let that happen under my watch.' Persistent drought in Sicily last summer meant the water supply was turned on only once a week. Residents were told not to wash their clothes and to flush their toilets only infrequently. Experts warned in recent weeks of an impending UK drought this summer if there was not significant rainfall soon, with some reservoirs in the north of the country at worryingly low levels. The environment minister, Steve Reed, confirmed he has awarded the status of 'nationally significant' to two new reservoir projects in East Anglia and Lincolnshire and ordered they go ahead. These will be the first to be built since 1992. The government said this would shore up water resources for more than 750,000 homes in England's most water-stressed areas. Without more capacity, the UK will be at risk of running out of water in the medium term. The Environment Agency has predicted a shortfall of almost five billion litres a day by 2050. Water Minister Emma Hardy said: 'We are backing the builders not the blockers, intervening in the national interest and slashing red tape to make the planning process faster to unblock nine new reservoirs... This Government will secure our water supply for future generations and unlock the building of thousands of homes as part of the Plan for Change." Anglian Water is proposing to build the Lincolnshire Reservoir to the south of Sleaford, aiming to be operational by 2040. The firm has also partnered with Cambridge Water to propose the Fens Reservoir, located between the towns of Chatteris and March, set to be completed in 2036. The Lincolnshire Reservoir would provide up to 166 million litres of water per day for up to 500,000 homes – that is the equivalent of more than 664 million cups of tea per day. The Fens would supply a much needed 87 million litres to 250,000 homes in the driest region of the UK. Both projects will now progress to the consultation phase, where developers gather views from communities and stakeholders. Water companies have committed to bring nine new reservoirs online by 2050, in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Kent, East Sussex and the West Midlands and Somerset. These reservoirs alone have the potential to provide 670 million litres of extra water per day. The water industry has also welcomed the announcement. "It's absolutely critical that we build these reservoirs now," David Henderson, chief executive of Water UK. "If we don't build them now, we wait another 10 years, it's going to cost even more, so we can't keep kicking the can down the road any longer." Some experts warn that managing how we use water needs to take greater precedence in a warming climate. "We need a complete overhaul of the way we use water, to plug leaks, cut down on waste and store water where it falls as rain," said Prof Hannah Cloke of the University of Reading. "It would be better to make more difficult decisions around regulation of new building, as well as retrofitting older homes and businesses, to cut waste and recycle water where it is used, rather than pumping water across huge distances."
