Published: 21 October 2026
Two key announcements this month:
- CROWDFUNDER launched: raising money for a better water future https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/better-water-future
- SURVEY about the proposed reservoir: Local councillors led by Sally Whiteman have launched a survey about the proposed reservoir. Survey available here: https://ee-eu.kobotoolbox.org/x/fXVdDnek
For details, see below.
RAISING MONEY FOR A BETTER WATER FUTURE: CROWDFUNDER LAUNCHED
Why have GARD done this? To raise funds for expert independent help.
GARD’s chair together with a team of unpaid experts are working flat out to prepare a strong challenge to Thames Water’s White Horse Reservoir application expected in late November, which will be decided through the Development Consent Order (DCO) process. The team has been examining Thames Water’s latest plans and gathering the evidence needed to contest them. However, the scale and complexity of the application mean that voluntary effort alone will not be enough. To scrutinise Thames Water’s case properly and present the strongest possible challenge, GARD will need independent legal, hydrology, ecology and planning expertise. To this end, the Crowdfunder has now been launched.
GARD aims to raise £100,000 for the independent expertise needed to test Thames Water’s case. The goal is not simply to oppose a local reservoir. It is to ensure that a major water infrastructure decision affecting England and Wales is based on sound evidence and will deliver a resilient, affordable and practical water supply. This target reflects advice from community groups that have recently fought similar DCOs, as the process requires detailed technical evidence, close scrutiny of the applicant’s case and formal rebuttals across several specialist fields.
All funds raised will pay for expert evidence and specialist legal input so decision-makers can assess whether this reservoir is truly the right long-term investment for billpayers and future water security, and to help support GARD’s awareness-raising and campaigning efforts.
Please donate if you can, and share this campaign widely with your family, friends, colleagues: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/better-water-future
Thank you to all of those you have already generously donated. It is much appreciated.
As one donor noted: “Let’s keep fighting. This will be another white elephant, costing us billions and run by an incompetent company. There are better alternatives.”
Any excess funds will be donated to WASP (Windrush Against Sewage Pollution), the charity voted on by members and supporters.
CONSTRUCTION PLAN SHOWS HUGE INCREASE IN TRAFFIC PREDICTED
During the statutory consultation, which ended in January 2026, Thames Water said that two freight trains a day could carry around 50% of the construction materials. It has recently launched a ‘” “targeted consultation” now proposing those same two trains would account for only 31% of construction movements—leaving local roads to absorb the remaining 69%.
Thames Water’s revised figures point to more than twice the road traffic it presented during the statutory consultation, bringing a major surge in HGV and LGV movements onto local roads. The number of access points for HGVs to reach the construction site has ballooned from 6 in October 2025 to 17 in the present plan, with many access points reached only via narrow roads. The company has refused to release the actual totals needed for a direct comparison, leaving residents to guess, from graphs, the extent of the increased vehicles The full scale of the impact will remain hidden until its traffic model is published with the Environmental Statement and DCO application, though we can estimate that the total road vehicles for the construction period will be over 1.5 million, with more than 900,000 of these in the HGV class.
A change in the law in July now allows Thames Water to consult on less of the scheme before submitting its application. The present consultation is obliged to take comments from affected landowners only. Communities and their residents could therefore be denied the full traffic evidence until later in the process—after a crucial opportunity to challenge the assumptions, scale and local consequences has already been lost.
The new access points and “indicative” traffic increases are available on the Thames Water website.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PUBLIC INFORMATION
In September and early October, GARD briefed parish councils on consultation gaps, flood risk and emergency drawdown. Local councillors are also calling for closer scrutiny and better consultation after the episode of the ‘closed’ consultation discussed above. Parish councils have launched a survey seeking local views on the likely traffic and disruption. This is a good opportunity for local residents to make their voices heard. Survey available here: https://ee-eu.kobotoolbox.org/x/fXVdDnek.
IN THE PRESS AND WIDER AUDIENCES
GARD has continued to raise awareness through regional media, including BBC Radio Oxford, Politics South, Meridian TV and the Oxford Mail, and has been providing data and background information to The Guardian and The Financial Times.
Derek Stork, GARD chair, has also been invited to contribute to the Oxford Water Network’s winter seminar series, and we are in contact with Oxford University academics with a view to holding a biodiversity session to highlight the reservoirs likely impacts on flora and fauna.
NEW SOLAR FARM BETWEEN GARFORD AND WEST HANNEY
Cearn Solar Farm Ltd is proposing a large solar farm between Garford and West Hanney, close to the reservoir’s southern edge. If both schemes go ahead, construction, access routes, grid connections and traffic could overlap in the same rural area. Local representatives are asking whether Thames Water has properly assessed these combined effects. Its own plans to build a solar farm have now been dropped, and it has gone back to having floating solar panels on the reservoir itself.
PETITION
8,057… and counting. The aim is to deliver the petition to the Secretary of State for the Environment in November. If you haven’t signed yet, or know someone who has not, please do so by this deadline: bit.ly/3Y69bTs.
REMEMBER: PEOPLE MATTER – TOGETHER WE HAVE A VOICE.
Cate Dominian
GARD Secretary