Reservoir progress too slow - Green deputy leader

Water companies, the industry regulator and the government are not moving fast enough to build a new reservoir to supply drinking water, according to the deputy leader of the Green Party.

Rachel Millward said there had been a "woeful lack of investment in essential infrastructure", which she said was a "problem of privatisation".

A new reservoir is being planned in the Cambridgeshire Fens but Anglian Water (AW) has said it would be operational "10 years from now".

The government said it was getting the project "moving" and said the public would have more control over the water industry.

A new lake, known as the Fens Reservoir, is being planned between Chatteris and Doddington in north Cambridgeshire.

It would supply enough water for 250,000 homes.

The project is currently in the planning stages, with a fourth public consultation scheduled ahead of developers seeking final government approval.

AW and Cambridge Water are expected to submit a joint application to the Planning Inspectorate in 2028, before a government decision potentially in 2029.

Construction could begin in 2030.

Asked if she thought the water companies, Ofwat and the government were moving quickly enough on the plans, Millward said: "No... not at all.

"Nothing is more important than our water supply, right?

"We need to fast track this infrastructure. It's going to be challenging because it's been woefully under-invested over the years."

Millward said the water industry needed to be "back in public ownership and nationalising".

AW is also looking for sites for two desalination plants, which would turn seawater into drinking water.

It is thought they would be built on the Norfolk and Lincolnshire coasts.

The company has estimated that, without intervention, there would be a daily shortfall of approximately half of the current volume of water entering the network by 2050.

The last major reservoir to be completed in the UK was Carsington Water, which was officially opened in 1992.

Portsmouth Water is currently building Havant Thicket reservoir in Hampshire.

Ahead of the Fens Reservoir, AW is building a 205-mile (330-km) pipeline from the Humber to south Essex.

An AW spokesperson said: "We're happy to talk to the Green Party's Rachel Millward to discuss the progress being made on the proposed reservoir in the Fens and our £11bn investment plan to deliver water infrastructure across our region."

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it was "not good enough that a reservoir has not been built in this country for over 30 years".

They added that the government was "getting projects like the Fens Reservoir moving – streamlining the planning process and supporting plans for nine new reservoirs" in England.

They continued: "We will give the public more control over water, and help keep bills as low as possible, bringing in tougher regulation, stronger enforcement and greater accountability, so water companies deliver for customers and the environment."

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