Sewage drilling plan blocked
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
17/10/2008
Super sewer is the wrong answer to Thames sewage problem and it won't stop sewage flooding homes.
Thames Water’s furtive attempt to drill bore-holes in Furnivall Gardens is being blocked by the council.
The water company wants to create a massive construction site for its controversial sewer project somewhere in the borough. It is refusing to say where, but its unexplained request to the council for permission to drill in Furnivall Gardens is being taken as a bit of a giveaway.
The council has refused permission for the ground-testing which would involve drilling several bore-holes in the park.
And now there is a chance to speak out against the plan, thanks to a public meeting organised by Hammersmith & Fulham Council at 7pm on November 17 in Hammersmith Town Hall. Thames Water, and its Environment Agency partners, have been invited to come to the borough to face residents who want them to explain their plans.
More than 1,000 residents have already signed the council’s e-petition against the sewer plan.
The Government has asked Thames Water to develop the Thames Tidal Tunnel – or ‘super sewer’ as it has become known – to prevent sewage being flushed into the river during storms. The plan is to dig a huge storage tunnel under the Thames, stretching from west London to Beckton, which will take the current overflows from the creaking sewage system during heavy downpours. But Thames Water has admitted that its £2.2billion proposal will do nothing to stop sewage flooding local residents’ homes.
Hammersmith & Fulham Councillor Paul Bristow said: "We have a duty to open up debate on this issue. We need answers to residents’ questions about what this project would mean for them.
"Thames Water is being less than open about where it plans to site this constructions site and that’s just not good enough.
"Our message is simple. We don’t want to see sewage spilling into the Thames, but this proposal is the wrong answer."
"Residents are telling us that the use of parkland is just not acceptable and they are deeply unhappy that it does nothing to prevent the horror of sewage flooding into local people’s homes."
The construction site would involve a 100-foot-wide shaft and work would take eight years to complete.
The council’s e-petition is still open at: http://tinyurl.com/5qxfsk (opens new window) or you can contribute to the web discussion on the super sewer at: www.lbhf.gov.uk/supersewer.