Boris supports Tideway Tunnel in plan for London's water supplies
Mayor Boris Johnson is at odds with Hammersmith and Fulham Council over the planned Thames Tideway Tunnel, nicknamed the "super sewer".
The Council has consistently campaigned against the tunnel, but the Mayor's new draft water strategy takes the opposite view, including this statement:
The Mayor supports the building of the Thames Tideway tunnel under the Thames and the river Lee to greatly reduce discharges of sewage into the river and improve the quality of the water in the River Thames.
The draft water strategy was published on Friday August 28, and lays out the Mayor's plan to protect London's water supplies in a changing climate.
The proposed Thames Tunnel will run for approximately 20 miles through London, and up to 75 metres beneath the River Thames, broadly following the path of the river. Along the way it will capture the flows of storm sewage from 34 sewer overflow points along the River Thames.
Construction is provisionally scheduled to start in 2012 and finish in 2020.The tunnel, along with a separate tunnel under the River Lee in London's East End, is required to ensure the UK complies with the European Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.
Thames Water says the tunnels are required to substantially reduce the level of untreated sewage overflowing from London's Victorian sewers into our rivers.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council however, has strongly opposed the building of the tunnel, calling it a "white elephant" and even setting up a petition against it. It recently made the issue a "hot topic" on its website. With the headline, Sewer plan will cost billions but won't stop sewage flooding homes, it said:
The council is questioning whether the benefits of the Thames sewer tunnel justify its £2.2 billion price tag. Thames Water plan to build a 20 mile long sewage storage tank under the Thames to prevent sewage flowing into the Thames. They have said the starting point will be in H&F. While they have given an assurance that Ravenscourt Park is ‘highly unlikely’ to be picked, a question mark remains over where the construction site will be. The huge entrance to the tunnel will be the size of four football pitches. The council is asking whether the super sewer provides value for money or whether it is a white elephant.
Now Hammersmith and Fulham Liberal Democrats have entered the discussion, pointing out that the Mayor's clear support for the Tideway Tunnel is of particular interest to local residents.
Spokeswoman Merlene Emerson says: " This clearly contradicts the views held by our local Tory Councillors in Hammersmith & Fulham Council as well as the Tory Parliamentary candidate for Hammersmith who have been most vocal in their opposition to what has dubbed the 'super sewer'..
" Not only had the Council unreasonably refused Thames Water’s application to drill exploratory bore holes (since defeated by Court order, at needless expense to residents) but have also run an on-line petition seeking the public’s support in resisting the building of the tunnel.
" Mike Tuffrey, leader of the Lib Dems in the London Assembly will be asking the Mayor to request Stephen Greehalgh, leader of H&F Council work more co-operatively with Thames Water and the Environment Agency. It is only through cooperation that this vital work can be done quickly, efficiently and at least cost to residents.
" Instead of finding solutions for Londoners, our local Tories appear to be campaigning against the super sewer as a way of winning popular votes. "
September 1, 2009
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