High Court to hear reservoir plan judicial review

Thames Water says it plans to formally submit its proposals next year

The High Court will hear a judicial review brought against a water firm's plan to build one of the country's largest reservoirs later.

Thames Water's £2.2bn South East Strategic Reservoir Option (SESRO), would be created near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, to cope with increasing demand and climate change.

The project would cover an area the size of Gatwick Airport and the company said it would secure supply for 15 million people.

Countryside charity CPRE Oxfordshire and water safety group Safer Waters have said it would devastate local ecology and livelihoods.

They have also said it would increase the risk of flooding, squander billpayers' funds and be unnecessary.

Thames Water intends to submit an application to construct and maintain the reservoir next year.

If that is granted, it hopes to start building in 2029 with the reservoir operational from 2040.

The water would supply customers in Oxfordshire and others in London and the South East, Thames Water said.

It said it would "provide opportunities to create new habitats and increase biodiversity, as well as providing new leisure and recreation facilities".

But Derek Stork, a director of Safer Waters, said the project was "a scandalous misuse of public money".

"Instead of investing in essential sewage clean up and modern water reuse systems, Thames Water wants to build an untested bunded structure the height of an eight-storey building that puts communities at risk while lining shareholder pockets," he said.

Lisa Warne, director of CPRE Oxfordshire, said: "The UK is already one of Europe's most wasteful water users per person – we currently reuse just 0.08% of urban wastewater, the lowest rate in Europe.

"The government should prioritise leakage reduction, water reuse, and efficiency, not this vanity reservoir."

Oxfordshire Liberal Democrat MPs Olly Glover, Layla Moran and Charlie Maynard said they supported the scheme being assessed at a public inquiry to ensure "meaningful public scrutiny".

In January, Chancellor Rachel Reeves indicated government support for the reservoir.

It was designated a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) earlier this month.