Thames Waters' proposed Thames Tideway Tunnel is a 15 mile tunnel which would run 75 metres beneath the riverbed through central London and would capture storm sewage from overflow points along the river.
The Tunnel was designated a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) by the Secretary of State in February because of the scheme's importance, despite it not meeting the default statutory requirements for a NSIP.
NSIPs are subject to a separate planning regime under the Planning Act 2008. An application must be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for a Development Consent Order (DCO), rather than a conventional planning application under the Town and Country Planning Act.
DCOs are independently examined by the Planning Inspectorate in accordance with bespoke examination procedures. Applications are determined in the context of relevant National Policy Statements published specifically to set out the need for infrastructure of national importance and the criteria for assessing the suitability of project proposals. Most proposed DCO applications have been located outside London, but Thames Water's proposals will break that trend.
The proposed plans have been subject to public consultation and are due to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for determination early next year, said Thames Water. Subject to approval by the Planning Inspectorate, Thames Water hopes to start construction in 2015 or 2016.
The finalised plans identify 24 preferred construction sites, from Acton in the west to Abbey Mills in Stratford in the east, where the proposed tunnel would join up with the Lee Tunnel, which is already under construction.
The tunnel is planned to prevent the flow of 39 million tonnes of untreated sewage a year into the Thames. This happens when the sewerage network fills to capacity, which can happen after 2mm of rainfall.
Under the plans the captured sewage would be carried by the tunnel and would be discharged at Beckton Sewage Treatment Works in Newham. Work is already underway on separate plans to expand the capacity of five sewage treatment works along the River Thames.
Details of the revised scheme are being published in advertisements in local papers and other publications along the proposed tunnel route, in line with the requirements of the Planning Act. The advertisements will be extended to last double the amount of time initially proposed by Thames Water, to take account of the summer holidays and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. "The updated construction designs for the Thames Tunnel reflect consultation feedback provided by Londoners since September 2010," said Thames Water. "This includes comments received during a 28-day ‘targeted consultation’ on potential, relatively small changes at four sites (Barn Elms, Putney, Vauxhall and Victoria Embankment), which ended on 4 July 2012."
"Obviously, it’s not been an easy process, and we are acutely aware that people living close to our preferred construction sites are very concerned about the potential local impacts," said Phil Stride, head of Thames Tideway Tunnel at Thames Water. "I can reassure them that we remain fully committed to working with them to find further ways of reducing the disturbance caused to nearby communities." "As a result of consultation, we have already significantly increased our proposed use of barges to transport materials to and from by river during the construction phase, to reduce lorry movements on local roads. The formal consultation process may now be over, but the dialogue on key issues such as this should and will continue," said Stride.
The proposed plans are available online until 5 Octoberand are also made available at town halls in the 14 potentially directly affected boroughs.Affected landowners, developers, stakeholders and members of the public will have further opportunities to make representations about Thames Water's proposals and submit objections during the examination process, if Thames Water's application is "accepted" by the Planning Inspectorate.
"The Thames Tunnel Project moves on relentlessly with this latest stage of pre-application publicity" said Marcus Bate, planning expert at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com. "The statutory newspaper notices which recently appeared in the Evening Standard are relatively bland on first reading, but the underlying messages are striking," he said. "The DCO application will progress as planned, despite vehement opposition in many quarters. Alternative routes and sites are not under serious consideration and broad compulsory purchase powers, both temporary and permanent, will be sought, alongside traditional development consent powers to facilitate project delivery where land cannot be acquired by negotiation."
