The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames has not accepted plans to change the design for the Thames Waters Teddington Direct River Abstraction (TDRA) project.
The proposed changes to the pipeline’s construction mean Thames Water can decrease the number of shafts and construction areas, reducing the surface-level impact on local communities.
Tunnel boring instead of pipejacking would allow the company to take a more direct route to the River Thames, making the tunnel shorter.
As a result, the following four locations for a shaft and construction compound would be removed from the project:
- Shaft 1 at Ivybridge Retail Park Car Park.
- Shaft 2 at Moormead & Bandy Recreation Ground.
- Shaft 4 is on land adjacent to the playground off Riverside Drive.
- Shaft 6 at Ham Lands, to the west of Riverside Drive.
A single intermediate shaft is still required—the preferred location is off Ham Street. Two options also remain under investigation for the Thames Lee Tunnel Connection.
Despite welcome reductions in the number of shafts required in Thames Water’s TDRA project, LBRUT remains firm in its opposition to the scheme, not least due to water quality concerns and the continued impacts of what is still a range of significant construction sites on valuable open spaces within the borough.
Councillor Gareth Roberts, leader of the council, said:
“Following the outcry from local residents, councillors and MPs, Thames Water have been forced to change their controversial plans, but as a council we remain hugely concerned about the impact both on the river itself and in Ham.
“Thames Water need to do far more to convince residents that this scheme represents the best solution to predicted future water shortages. Until they do that, we will continue to oppose any scheme that we believe could harm the river and our land.”
Thames Water’s plan involves taking water from the River Thames at Teddington Weir, diverting it to the Lee Valley Reservoirs, and replacing it with waste water from Mogden Sewage Treatment Works.
Thames Water have made several key changes to their original proposal, including:
- Changing the design of the pipeline that would transfer the treated waste water from Mogden to the Thames
- Changing the construction method for the pipeline from a pipejacking method to a tunnel-boring method
- Changing the way they propose to extract material from the tunnel during construction
The amended proposal involves reducing the number of shafts and construction areas in the borough, which would alleviate some of the disruption to Richmond residents and open spaces if the proposals proceeded.
You can find out more about the changes on the Thames Water website.
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