Is council illegally funding anti Thames Tunnel campaign? (Twickenham & Richmond Liberal Democrats)

Is council illegally funding anti Thames Tunnel campaign?

August 6, 2011 11:45 AM

• [Aug 05]: RICHMOND Council has been reported as meeting a quarter of the cost of a £20,000 anti-Thames Tunnel initiative called the Thames Tunnel Commission, despite the council's official support for the Thames Tunnel project.

Richmond's Cabinet agreed a formal response to Thames Water's consultation on the tunnel project on 6^th December 2010, which read: "The need for an improved sewage system within London is understood and the principle of the Thames Tunnel and the potential benefits are recognised."

The Thames Tunnel Commission has been set up by four riverside boroughs: Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, Richmond upon Thames and Southwark. Its chair, Conservative peer Lord Selbourne, is quoted as saying he expected the cost of the initiative to be £20,000, to be met equally by each borough.

Cllr Stephen Knight, Leader of the Liberal Democrat on Richmond Council, said: "I am horrified that the Council is apparently spending taxpayers' money on a campaign against the vital Thames Tunnel project, despite the project having the formal support of the council. The Leader of Richmond Council, Lord True, clearly doesn't agree with his own policy and is now describing the project, to stop the Thames being used as an open sewer, as a 'prestige' project that should be 'shelved until better days'.

"Our sewers currently dump more than 39 million cubic metres of raw sewage into the river every year, with overflows into the Thames after rainfall almost twice a week. It is a massive environmental health hazard, killing fish and carrying dangerous pathogens. It is a national scandal that we are still poisoning our river in the 21^st Century and the UK taxpayer faces massive fines from the European Union if the pollution is not stopped by 2020.

"Alternatives have already been examined and would be even more expensive than the tunnel. Delaying the project now will not only extend the poisoning of our river, but undoubtably push up the cost and lead to taxpayers having to pay EU fines on top of the cost of the project."

• New player wades in on Tideway [Tunnels & Tunnelling Jul 07]

• Thames Tunnel Commission call for evidence [lbhf.gov.uk press release Jul 26]

• Thames Water's super sewer plan for River Thames attracts critics from America [RTT Aug 06]