Havant Borough Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee Meeting

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Milne.

There were no declarations of interests relating to matters on the agenda.

To discuss with representatives of Portsmouth Water Company their plans for the Representatives from Portsmouth Water Company attended the meeting to discuss their plans for the use of Havant Thicket Reservoir.

A list of questions and answers to submitted by Members of the Committee prior to the meeting was circulated to members before the meeting.

The Committee, via a presentation and a question and answer session, examined:

1.          the case for the provision of a new reservoir;

2.          why a proposed desalination plant was considered inappropriate for the area;

3.          when Portsmouth Water was made aware of Southern Water’s proposal to pump treated wastewater into the proposed reservoir;

4.         the challenges facing Southern Water in relation to supplying water to its customers;

5.          Portsmouth Water water mains renewal rate and its performance for mending water leakage;

6.          the quality of the recycled water with particular attention to its comparison with spring water;

7.          the projected mix of recycled and spring water to be stored in the reservoir;

8.          how Southern Water’s proposal to store treated wastewater in the reservoir impacted upon the environments benefits identified when the reservoir was granted planning permission;

9.          measures undertaken and proposed by Portsmouth Water to encourage residents to reduce their water use;

10.         the habitat mitigation measures for the reservoir site;

11.        the communications strategy to overcome concerns relating to the future use of the reservoir raised by residents; and

12.        the proposed changes to the pipelines and how these changes were related to Southern Water’s proposals.

During the presentation and question and answer session the representatives of the Portsmouth Water Company:

a.         gave an assurance that if the plans went ahead, their customers’ water would nearly always come from Bedhampton springs: their customers would only receive some recycled water mixed with spring water in drought or emergency scenarios;

b.         advised that it welcomed any feedback on from the Council on future public communications relating to the reservoir

RESOLVED that consideration of this item be deferred to an extraordinary meeting of the Committee to enable Portsmouth Water Company to respond to further questions raised by Members of the Committee.

The Committee considered its 2022/23 Annual Report.

RESOLVED that Council be recommended to note the submitted 2022/23 Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report.