Local MP’s have joined Water Matters and Rowlands Castle Parish Council calls for the Planning Inspector to reject the Southern Water Development Consent Order application on the grounds that the consultation was inadequate.
For a copy of the full report prepared by Water Matters, setting out all the ways in which Southern Water failed to consult the public adequately, click the image below:
The report confirms that SW have failed to comply with the legal requirements of the Planning Act (including the Gunning Principles) and the Water Industry Act 1991 including;
- Failure to consult when their Water Resource Management Plan materially changed to include effluent recycling via the Havant Thicket Reservoir.
- Failure to consult those ‘likely to be affected’ by the project at the formative stage of the plan when the option was selected and subsequently, including those that would receive the recycled water at their taps.
- Failure to robustly consider and consult on alternative options before selecting HWTWRP, including an alternative environmental buffer lake and more sustainable water resource options.
- Failure to take into account the scale of public objection and address concerns raised.
We are aware that the following Members of Parliament have raised concerns about the inadequacy of the public consultation on effluent recycling:
| Suella Braverman MP | Fareham & Waterlooville |
| Jess Brown-Fuller MP | Chichester |
| Damian Hinds MP | East Hampshire |
| Paul Holmes MP | Hamble Valley |
| Alan Mak MP | Havant |