| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:The stench of the Tories prevails | |
| Posted by: | Steve Taylor | |
| Date/Time: | 21/10/13 14:43:00 |
| “I have always been puzzled why the local Conservatives have always been so defensive of Thames Water Is there a link or relationship somewhere we are unaware of perhaps with shares or pension schemes?” Well if there is they should start looking at other pension pots because even the historically toothless regulator is not happy with the manner in which Thames conducts its business and has rejected Thames Water’s price increase to be inflicted upon customers. “Thames Water applied in August for a one-off price increase next year that would raise average bills by 8% from £354, blaming customers struggling to pay their bills and the cost of a super sewer under London. But in a draft ruling the regulator said it was unconvinced by the company's calculations on bad debts, slashing Thames Water's assessment of £75 million of extra costs due to "additional deprivation" to just £13 million. Ofwat's chief regulation officer Sonia Brown said: "We have looked at the details and do not believe the current evidence justifies an increase in bills." Thames said the biggest item was £273 million spent acquiring land for the Thames Tideway Tunnel, a major new sewer development.” And what a surprise that Brad Fisher and his cronies on the Scrutiny panel heard from Thames Water last week that the expansion was not sufficient do the job when MRAG’s environmental scientist and expert witness explained to the Hounslow SDC in detail that expansion of the site, as per the planning application, was not an option because it had not factored in correctly the population growth forecasts. The cheapest method of ensuring no sewage overflow diverted to the river was to link the Super Sewer directly to Mogden instead of starting it in Chiswick or Barnes.. This is exactly why residents and their legal team wanted the planning application to be passed to the Secretary of State at the time, Hilary Benn. It was blatantly obvious that the Director of Environment and the Asst Director at Hounslow at the time were presented with issues far too complex and beyond their pay grades. This coupled with the fact that the Councillors on the SDC were clueless. So now they have wasted £142million to expand Mogden – it won’t be able to cope in a few years but they are crying to Ofwat for more money from stakeholders. And in the meantime the Tories have allowed Thames Water to create the biggest cesspool in Europe in the middle of our densely populated Borough. |