June 2026 – Southern Water have now submitted the Planning Application to the Planning Inspectorate and this page has been refreshed with additional detail.
The publicly accepted proposal by Portsmouth Water to establish the nation’s first reservoir in over three decades, already under construction following local authority approval, is now under threat from Southern Water’s Hampshire Water Transfer and Water Recycling Plant (HWTWRP) project. Southern Water are proposing a high-risk capital venture which does not provide a sustainable or cost-effective solution for the provision of a resilient water supply for the future.
The effluent recycling plant proposed as an extension to the Budds Farm sewage treatment works at Broadmarsh, Havant, is one of three such developments which form the core of Southern Water’s draft Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP). The other two proposed plants are at Sandown (IoW) and Littlehampton, see ‘News Items’ in the menu above.
Southern Water has now submitted the Planning Application (Development Consent Order) to the Planning Inspectorate, for the Hampshire effluent recycling plant in Havant and other infrastructure including the 40km+ pipeline to Otterbourne.
To be able to comment on the application, YOU FIRST NEED TO REGISTER. Information about registering as an Interested Party can be found in the Planning Inspectorate’s Advice for members of the public: Click the image below to read this:
When you have read the Planning Inspectorate’s advice, click the following image to open the HWTWRP project page on the Planning Inspectorate website to register your email address with the HWTWRP project case file.
You will be asked how frequently you would like to be notified, and at the appropriate time you will be invited by the Planning Inspectorate to enter your comments. You may find it helpful to take the first option, which is to ‘Get updates by email on the progress of the application’. Your comments must be submitted on the ‘Registration and Relevant Representation form’ which will be made available on the project webpage of the National Infrastructure Planning website at the appropriate time.
The Water Matters community will review the application documents and update these web pages with any new information or concerns. In the meantime, we believe the current content and concerns raised remain valid.
There has been an absence of direct communication between the water companies and their bill-paying customers who will receive the recycled effluent in their tap water across South Hampshire, West Sussex and the Isle of Wight. To address this, the Havant based ‘Water Matters’ community has been working hard to bring the detail to the attention of the public through these pages in order that the general public can be well-informed about Southern Water’s future plans. Take the ‘Water Matters’ menu options at the top of this page to explore further details on the significant concerns, spiralling cost to customers, impacts on the environment, and a better more sustainable way forward.
The content of these pages has evolved over the period of the following consultation exercises:
| Southern Water ‘Water for Life’ Consultation | 5 July 2022 – 16 Aug 2022 |
| Southern Water WRMP First Consultation | 14 Nov 2022 – 20 Feb 2023 |
| Southern Water HWTWRP Summer 2024 Consultation | 29 May 2024 – 23 July 2024 |
| Southern Water WRMP Second Consultation | 11 Sep 2024 – 4 Dec 2024 |
| Southern Water HWTWRP Spring 2025 Consultation | 5 March 2025 – 4 April 2025 |