14 February 2007
As part of its efforts to take on board the views of local residents, Thames Valley held two weekend workshops to allow concerned consumers to come forward and ask questions about the proposed reservoir in the Vale of the White Horse region.
Possible impacts on local infrastructure and the scale of the development were discussed together with recreation and landscaping preferences such as a visitor centre, nature reserve, bridleways and footpaths.
The next consultation will discuss the environmental impact of installing such a large reservoir in the upper Thames region and consumers who have any concerns on the matter are encouraged to get in touch.
Thames Water's communications manager Eleanor Taylor commented: "The workshops provided us with an opportunity to discuss issues with local people in more detail and all the comments made will be used together with the feedback we received out our public exhibitions to inform our design proposal."
However, the local district council has declared that it "does not feel the case for a large reservoir has yet been demonstrated" by Thames Valley and has criticised the water supplier for continually failing to meet its leakages targets.
Councillor Tony de Vere, chairman of the Vale's Reservoir Advisory Group, said: "We said we were going to vigorously challenge Thames Water's case and have already begun this process. We hope Thames Water can provide the answers we need before the end of the next stage.
"Asking these questions and making these comments does not necessarily mean we are opposed to the reservoir but it does mean we are trying to be thorough and will not assume that all the evidence is there to prove that a reservoir is needed."
Are you water wise? Find out on uSwitch.com – and see what water saving ideas you can put into practice to save both water and money. Would you be better off by switching to a water meter? Find out here with uSwitch.com's free and impartial water service.
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
Content for the uSwitch.com market news service is provided by a third party, Adfero Ltd. Whilst uSwitch.com makes reasonable efforts to check the reliability of this content, uSwitch.com does not guarantee the accuracy thereof or endorse the views or opinions given by Adfero Ltd, unless expressly stated otherwise.