Thames Sewage Solution Starts In The Wrong Part Of The River

12.00.00am GMT Tue 22nd Mar 2005

Keeping the Thames free of sewage overspills needs more thought if the residents of Richmond are to avoid a repeat of last summer's tragedy of thousands of dead fish and a polluted river. This is the view of Susan Kramer, PPC for Richmond Park (Lib Dems), following a meeting organised by The Kew Society on the Thames Tideway Strategic Study.

Susan Kramer said:

"The sewage interceptor tunnel proposed for under the Thames is welcome but will cost £1.7 bn and take fifteen years to complete.

"Yet the plan is for the tunnel to start at Hammersmith. This flies in the face of the experience of last August when the stretch towards Richmond suffered terrible consequences as a result of sewage spilling into the river.

"The tunnel needs to start at Eel Pie Island if we are to get the full benefit of the new scheme.

"Even with the Hammersmith proposal and planned improvements to the Mogden treatment plant I am not convinced we are being offered a watertight solution for the future.

"I also believe the government is taking the wrong approach on finance. Local residents will face an additional £40 a year on their water bills to pay for the scheme on top of the year on year increases in water rates. 'It is not fair to ask residents to pay such a big share when we live in a great capital city like London which benefits the whole nation. Government fails to recognise that not everyone in our area is rich.

"The infrastructure to protect us from raw sewage and its effects needs to be funded first and foremost from government. Local people can make a contribution but not carry the full burden."