*ABINGDON RESERVOIR ALERT*

WE NEED A FAIR & ROBUST CONSULTATION PROCESS

Update – new consultation deadline date – 19th November 2021. Documents republished with revised redactions. 

The next step for Thames Water’s plans for a mega-reservoir near Abingdon is to pass a ‘GATE 1’ approval process being run by RAPID, a joint Ofwat, Environment Agency and Drinking Water Inspectorate body.

We’ve seen some poor consultations in our time, but this is right up there. Here’s why:

* Stakeholders got no notification of the documents being published

* The effective consultation period is just 3 weeks

* Thames Water’s information is so heavily redacted as to be impossible to assess or comment on. (Similar reports from Anglian Water are hardly redacted at all.)

For example:

* Watercourses potentially lost by building the reservoir – FIGURES REDACTED

* Locations where there is potential for impact – FIGURES REDACTED

* Virtually all cost information – FIGURES REDACTED

CPRE Oxfordshire is asking RAPID for a review of these documents and an extension to the 8th October deadline.

Add your voice, email: rapid@ofwat.gov.uk