Draft Infrastructure Planning (Water Resources) (England) Order 2018

Lord Vaizey of Didcot Excerpts

Tuesday 20th November 2018 General Committees

[Mr Edward Vaizey (Wantage) (Con)]

I am very sorry to hear that, Sir Henry, but hopefully my rhetoric will move the Committee.

It is a pleasure to appear under your chairmanship, Sir Henry, and to be here in the presence of the Minister, who is a legendary figure in our party. Last night she hosted her annual and widely celebrated karaoke evening and unfortunately, as I had to be at a Haydn concert at St John’s Smith Square, I could not join her and other members of the Cabinet in their renditions of “I Will Survive”. Instead, I was listening to the compositions of a European immigrant who made his home in London and produced works of outstanding culture at a time when free movement was celebrated.

But I digress. In between reading the withdrawal agreement for the second and third times, I have had a chance to read the statutory instrument, and you will be pleased to know, Sir Henry, that even if I could I would not move it to a vote. I am happy to accept it. I can see the Whip looking at me; he is happy about that as well.

I know that the entire Committee is perplexed as to why I am here and on my feet. The reason I am speaking is that for the past 20 or 25 years there has been a proposal to build a large reservoir in my constituency, known as the Abingdon reservoir, next to the large village of Steventon and on probably the last piece of large open land in southern England. I have worked closely over the many years since I became an MP with an organisation called GARD, which stands for Group Against Reservoir Development and is made up of various local luminaries, including the former director of technology at the UK Atomic Energy Authority, a former brigadier and a former wing commander. The group has provided me with lots of details and the Minister will be pleased to know that it, too, accepts the statutory instrument.

GARD has suggested that there could have been a higher threshold for desalination plants—perhaps 100 million litres. I would be interested to know the Minister’s views on that. It also suggests that the reservoir threshold should perhaps not be an either/or but 30 million cubic metres held back and at least 100 million litres per day output. I know the Minister will be keen to address those two technical points.

I will briefly outline what is proposed in Abingdon because it is relevant. The hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport, who spoke so well for the Opposition, and his colleagues have raised a number of relevant points about reservoir development. Let me say, to begin, that I am neutral about the proposed reservoir in my constituency. I have always made it plain to those campaigning against it that I do not propose to do so because it is a difficult position for a Member of Parliament. Where critically important infrastructure is needed for the country, one should not simply say no because it happens to be sited in one’s constituency.

What I have always called for is a proper public inquiry to ensure that the reservoir is genuinely needed, and in 2010 I succeeded in getting one. It was a good thing to campaign for because the inquiry, chaired by the elegantly named Mrs Wendy Burden, rejected the reservoir. At the time the reservoir was proposed, it was one of 100 million cubic metres—4 square miles—but it has now come back, under Thames Water’s proposals, as 50% bigger, at 150 million cubic metres. I can see my right hon. Friend the Member for Newbury, who will not be unaffected, taking a great deal of interest. Not only that, but the reservoir will have very high banks, a bit like that pile of mashed potato from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. It will be a very large land mass and will be built up with a great bund. Thames Water’s proposal is to start building it in 2025, so it is around the corner and, as Members can imagine, there is a lot of opposition to it.

I was grateful to the hon. Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill for talking about the role of communities in his earlier intervention, as did the Opposition spokesman. I would be interested to hear more from the Minister about how she proposes to involve my constituents and local communities in huge infrastructure developments of this kind, because as can be imagined, the concerns are manifold. First, there is the immediate concern of planning blight—people not being able to sell their house, certainly not at market value, because the only buyer in town is Thames Water. I have already had to intervene in that area on behalf of some constituents. Nobody in their right mind would buy some of the properties near where this proposal is still hanging around, in case it does happen. Secondly, this location is an important part of the flood plain, and people are concerned about the impact that the development might have on flooding. We have had serious flooding in my constituency, particularly around 2007. Of course, there is also the visual impact, which I have already elegantly and very graphically described.

In addition, I would be particularly interested in the Minister’s views on alternatives to a large reservoir. One of the issues that did for the reservoir in the 2010 public inquiry was that the planning inspector felt that Thames Water had not analysed closely enough the opportunity to transfer water from the Severn. Thames Water, I think, estimates that it could get 180 million cubic metres from the Severn water transfer, but experts in my constituency estimate that the figure could be about 300 million. Thames Water also bases the need for a reservoir on projected population figures, which are now in some doubt, and I would be interested to know what the Minister’s views are on those projected population figures.

As the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport and others have mentioned in great detail, there is also a need to tackle leakage problems in Thames Water’s network. Again, I do not hold that against Thames Water, if I can put it that way: there is a lot of Victorian infrastructure in London, and it is difficult to dig up the roads and replace the drains. However, I think the leakage figures are still around 600 million cubic metres a day. Considering that the reservoir was designed to hold 150 million cubic metres, that is the equivalent of four reservoirs a day leaking out of the drains in London.

Finally, there is, and has always been, a concern—it is really up to Thames Water to address it, and perhaps the Minister might have views on this—that this is simply an infrastructure project designed to please the shareholders of Thames Water. As proposed, the new reservoir will be built partly for Thames Water’s customers, but also for other water customers. There is a suspicion that this is the easy route: build a large piece of infrastructure to increase the value of Thames Water for the benefit of shareholders.

I echo some of the excellent contributions that have been made by hon. Members. I record my gratitude to them for raising the issue of local communities’ involvement in a project of this kind, and for making some very relevant points about water resources and water management in general. I look forward to the Minister’s exposition. If she wants a microphone, a speaker and some backing music as well, to take her back to last night, I am sure they could be supplied by you, Sir Henry.