Sutton and East Surrey Water

Sutton and East Surrey Water has abandoned plans to run a new strategic water main from Mogador to Burgh Heath across Banstead Heath.

The company made the announcement on Thursday night during a presentation of its plans to Reigate and Banstead Borough Councillors.

Mike Hegarty, Sutton and East Surrey Water’s Operations Director, said the company now favoured a route beginning through Council owned fields and private land beside the Heath before entering the A217.

Approximately half of the route would be down the A217. Mr Hegarty acknowledged that this would cause disruption but said it was unavoidable. The company would do all it could to minimise this. “We will work 12 hours a day, six days a week, he said. “We will also try to do most of the work during periods when the road is less busy.”

Mr Hegarty said the company had been working on the pipeline plan for nearly a year but the continued opposition of the Banstead Conservators to any proposed route across the Common had prevented any progress.

“The only options were to pursue a Commons route and probably end up with a public inquiry involving the Secretary of State, or to find a viable alternative. The Commons option would have probably lost us another year, been very costly and offered no certainty of a positive result.

“We must not lose sight of the fact that this pipeline is urgently needed to ensure we have real resilience in our distribution system. Currently our resources are vulnerable in the Sutton area whenever there is prolonged lack of rainfall. The boreholes there do not produce enough water to guarantee demand will always be met.

“The pipeline would also enable us to bring water into our southern area from Sutton if needed.”

The Councillors appreciated the difficulties with all the routes and accepted the proposed route was probably the most viable. The company will now draw up detailed plans and submit them for approval. Mr Hegarty said he hoped work would be able to start as soon as possible this year.

For further information please call Stuart Hyslop, Liz Thorne or John Burbedge on 01372 460 111. Mobile 07973 907979

NOTES TO EDITORS
Sutton and East Surrey Water supplies water to more than 650,000 people in east Surrey, and parts of West Sussex, west Kent and south London. Our supply area is 322 square miles (834 sq km) extending from Morden and South Croydon in the north to Gatwick Airport in the south and from Cobham, Leatherhead and Dorking in the west to Edenbridge and Bough Beech in the east. Groundwater supplies provide 85 per cent of our water, with 15 per cent being extracted from one reservoir at Bough Beech.