16 March 2007
Water watchdog the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) has appealed to the government to consider how much consumers are willing to pay when they draw up plans to solve the stormwater and sewage problems in the Thames Tideway area.
Concerns are rising that local residents will be lumbered with an enormous cost after it was revealed that a 32km long tunnel along the length of the tidal Thames and an alternative project which uses two shorter tunnels in west and east London are both being planned.
David Bland, Chair of Consumer Council for Water Thames, urged the Department for Energy, Food and Rural Affairs to think carefully about how much consumers were willing to pay when analysing how much this sewage-solving network was going to cost.
Mr Bland added that he was very concerned at the potential for exceptionally high and rising costs of solutions to the problem in terms of equipment and labour given the number of large-scale projects going on in London at the same time, including Crossrail and regeneration projects at the Olympics site.
"Decision-makers should not stretch consumers' willingness to pay beyond its natural limits," he warned.
Dame Yve Buckland, Chair of the Consumer Council for Water, added: "The Thames Tideway has national significance. The government's decision must be right for consumers and for the water environment: it should not be driven by fear of European Commission proceedings."
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