In a major speech on Labour’s plans to grow the UK economy with new infrastructure projects, Chancellor Rachel Reeves talked about building a third runway at Heathrow, creating a growth corridor between Oxford and Cambridge, and among other projects, building the Abingdon Reservoir.
Reeves said the government will invest £7.9 billion in water projects over five years, including two big reservoirs: one near Cambridge and one near Abingdon.
The idea of an Abingdon Reservoir has been controversial for decades. Thames water have put forward proposals and local groups and councils have opposed it, but the new Labour government has approved the latest proposal.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) wants a legal review because the Environment Secretary Steve Reed MP approved the £2.2 billion project without a public inquiry.
Picture is taken from https://www.thameswater.co.uk/about-us/regulation/strategic-water-resource-solutions/new-reservoir-in-abingdon.
This is not a wise idea made doubly worse should Thames Water be involved in any capacity.
Very concerning – HS2 failed and completion of this may fail also. The reservoir proposal has got bigger and bigger over the decades – it is now far too massive for the space. Sure, build reservoirs – but these plans are just far too big. Why can’t there be two or three smaller reservoirs for the South East instead? Talk about putting eggs all in one basket.
Also they haven’t even tested the 25m high embankments for safety! With increased danger of sabotage from hostile foreign nations in this fractious world the huge new raised reservoir is definitely going to be a prime target and will cause great disruption and carnage if there is a bank breach. Not to mention we’ll all get washed away. The thought gives me nightmares.
And they now want to put a massive AI / data centre storage development at Culham – how does that make sense? Putting it in the South East where there is greatest risk for water shortage? Why on earth don’t they site it near the coast where temperatures are generally a bit cooler, and also seawater can be used for cooling?? (Also the reservoir will take 10+ years to build – longer if there’s the usual delays / corruption / cost-bloating – Thames Water is involved after all. The AI data centre will need to be built in 2 or 3 years max to keep up with the super-frantic global pace of AI tech, so it will be completed and without facility cooling for years. It’s a totally rubbish plan frankly, I hope it gets reviewed.)
Driving back and forward along the Hanney-Stivvy road it seems to me this was going ahead regardless. Lots of Thames Water badged activity.