147: Thames Tunnel expected to continue as a Planning Act project

This is entry number 147, first published on 8 July 2010, of a blog on the implementation of the Planning Act 2008. Click here for a link to the whole blog. If you would like to be notified when the blog is updated, with links sent by email, click here.

Today's entry reports on the latest state of play with the Thames Tunnel project.

At a seminar hosted jointly by London Councils and Bircham Dyson Bell this week, there was a presentation from Phil Stride of Thames Water who is heading the team to build the 'Thames Tunnel', which is essentially a deep-level sewer that will run parallel to and about 70m beneath the River Thames from Hammersmith to Beckton.  It was formerly called the Thames Tideway Tunnel.  Its aim is to catch all the waste water from the sewer outfalls running towards that section of the Thames that would otherwise empty into the Thames during overflow conditions such as heavy rain.

The previous government announced that it was 'minded to' treat this project as a nationally significant infrastructure project (and thus within the Planning Act regime) despite it not being a member of any of the 16 types of project set out in the Act.  The Act allows projects to be upgraded in this way, although technically this can't happen until applications are actually made under the existing regime - in this case, planning applications.  The Thames Tunnel has the privilege of being the only project to have been treated this way to date.

That technicality leads to two unfortunate situations for Thames Water.  First, Thames Water will not know for sure that their project will be upgraded until they actually make an application, particularly during the current period when there has been a change in government but the new government hasn't said what it wil do.  Secondly, they will also have to go through the charade of producing and making up to 14 planning applications to the local authorities along the Thames in the reasonably firm knowledge that these will immediately be declared to be unnecessary.  A change to the regime for the government to consider in its upcoming Localism Bill.

Despite these issues, Thames Water is proceeding along the Planning Act route.  It plans to publish its Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC) in the Evening Standard and other local papers in a month or so, and then commence its pre-application consultation in September.  The SoCC is the document that says how the community in the vicinity of a project will be consulted on it by its promoter. 

At that time the land that is proposed to be taken temporarily and permanently for the project will become publicly known for the first time.  In doing that, Thames Water have taken the same approach as High Speed 2 by only announcing a single preferred option rather than any previous stages and alternatives.  In both cases this has been done mainly to reduce uncertainty (or probably more accurately diffuse uncertainty) and the effects of blight.  Statutory blight is the process where if landowners affected by a project fulfil certain criteria, they can require the project promoter to acquire their land early.  Promoters are naturally not keen to risk this, particularly for land on a route proposal that is later discarded.

Previous entry 146: Penfold Review recommends extension of the Planning Act regime, if it works
Next entry 148: NEWS - second consultation announced on energy National Policy Statements