Standard content for Members only
To continue reading this article, please login to your Utility Week account, Start 14 day trial or Become a member.
If your organisation already has a corporate membership and you haven’t activated it simply follow the register link below. Check here.
The High Court has rejected all the appeals for a judicial review against the Thames Tideway Tunnel project.
The four appeals for a judicial review were placed by the London Borough of Southwark, two iterations of the blue green campaigners – Thames Blue Green Economy and Blue-Green London Plan, and local resident, David Percival.
The challenges put forward by Blue Green London Plan and the London Borough of Southwark were thrown out by the judge after they were deemed to have been submitted after the six week appeal window following the awarding of the development consent order (DCO) in September last year.
Southwark Council opposed the proposed use of Chamber’s Wharf as a construction site, claiming it would cause “unacceptable levels of disruption”.
After the courth ruling, leader of Southwark Council, councillor Peter John said: “We always knew this was going to be a tough battle, but I wanted government ministers to have to justify to local residents why they think it’s acceptable that their lives should be blighted in this way.”
“We will now go back and look at our options, take advice from counsel and make a decision on our next steps.”
The two other applications for judicial reviews, submitted by Thames Blue-Green Economy and Percival were also rejected, on grounds of “not being arguable”.
The blue-green campaigners are keen to stop the Thames Tideway Tunnel being developed so “cheaper, quicker, lower risk, and more sustainable” solutions can be implemented.
Thames Blue-Green Economy claimed the DCO was unlawful because the government failed to comply with its legal obligations under the Environmental Impact Assessment regime with regard to public participation.
A spokesperson for Thames Tideway Tunnel said: “We are pleased with the clarity provided by the court’s decisions.”
The Thames Tideway Tunnel project has been designed to run 25km along the River Thames between Acton and Abbey Mills and intercept 34 combined sewer overflows.
It will divert surface water and sewage discharge to a wastewater treatment facility rather than allowing it to discharge directly into the river.
A failure to tackle the sewage overflow into Thames after periods of heavy or intense rainfall would leave UK facing EU fines of up to £100 million a year.
To help fund the construction of the super sewer, Thames Water has said that consumer water bills would increase by about £80 a year.
Please login or Register to leave a comment.