Havant Thicket Reservoir plans lauded as 'hugely positive for wildlife'

Portsmouth Water said Havant Thicket Reservoir will create a new wetland for endangered birds and protected animals.

It comes as the water company submitted two sets of plans to Havant Borough Council and East Hampshire District Council.

Council officers will examine the detailed scheme, and the plan for the pipeline.

The plans have been updated following feedback from the public. This means the company now wants to include two access roads, one in the north and one in the south.

This, the firm hopes, will reduce traffic and reduce the destruction of ancient woodland.

Bob Taylor, chief executive, said: ‘We are delighted and extremely proud to have submitted applications for this major project, which has been talked about since the 1960s.

‘We are determined it will provide many benefits for our communities, the environment and wildlife. Crucially, it will mean there is enough water to go round in our water-stressed region in the decades ahead, at the same time as safeguarding world-famous chalk streams in our area – the River Test and the River Itchen.’

‘Havant Thicket Reservoir will also be hugely positive for wildlife, with a new, large wetland created on the reservoir’s northern edge, providing a haven for endangered birds and other protected species.

‘Plus, through this scheme, we’re committed to replanting and improving at least 110 hectares of native woodland and grassland, next to the reservoir and further afield.

‘In addition, the reservoir will give people a fantastic new leisure facility, with a network of paths for walkers, runners, cyclists and horse-riders, as well as a visitor centre – something to look forward to in the years ahead.’

If approved the plans would see wildlife migration and access roads by 2022.

Supplies would be shared with Southern Water, whose chief executive Ian McAulay said: ‘The reservoir will play a key role in our long-term water resources plans – securing reliable water supplies for customers while helping protect the sensitive chalk stream habitats of the Test and Itchen rivers.’

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Clay would be dug out between 2023 and 2026 to make the reservoir bowl, and the pipeline would be put in taking water to Bedhampton Springs.

From 2027 the three miles of paths would be put in around the site along with a visitor centre. It would then be filled.

The reservoir will open to the public in 2029.

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