Mayor to appeal against decision to give go ahead to desalination plant
Posted: Tuesday 28th August 2007
The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has submitted an appeal to the High Court challenging the Government’s green light for Thames Water’s proposed desalination plant in East London.
The Secretaries of State for Communities & Local Government and Environment, Food & Rural Affairs agreed Thames Water’s plans for a £200 million desalination plant following a public inquiry in May and June 2006. The plant would desalinate water from the Thames to replace that lost through Thames Water’s leaky pipes, and will be built on Metropolitan Open Land near Beckton, in east London. The Mayor is appealing against the Government’s decision as he believes that the Secretaries of State may not have given proper consideration to the Mayor’s case and may not have properly examined the feasible alternatives to a desalination plant.
The Mayor of London said:‘ I am challenging the Government’s decision to give the go-ahead to a desalination plant as I do not believe the evidence we put forward at the public inquiry was given proper consideration. Thames Water should be fixing more leaks rather than finding expensive ways to spend Londoners’ money on making fresh water. They have the worst leakage record in the UK and the water produced by this plant won’t even come close to replacing what they waste every day.
‘Londoners are becoming increasingly aware of the need to tackle climate change and reduce water consumption. Last summer we managed to save nearly three times more water than this plant can make through our drought campaigns, a much cheaper and far more sustainable solution to our water supply problems than the proposed desalination plant. Adding £200 million to Londoners’ water bills to spend on a technology more appropriate for the desert is simply a disgrace. I cannot sit back and allow that to happen.'
