Thames Water first proposed a reservoir in the mid-1990s. The water would be used to supply London, there being no local need. The scale dwarfs surrounding villages being more than four square miles in area and bounded by 30 metre embankments (‘bunds’) close to housing in Steventon and East Hanney, a giant tank surrounded by artificial hills.

Residents immediately realised that the scale of the project, with construction taking more than10 years, would devastate the community, disruption including noise, dust and light pollution and traffic dislocation. The dominant artificial structure would permanently change the views from, and character of, the villages. There would be loss of biodiversity and good farmland and a worsening of the local flooding risk, as the reservoir would cover significant areas of local floodplain.

Local opposition soon crystallised around the formation of the Group Against Reservoir Development (GARD) .GARD has a membership of 500+, and is widely supported by the local people and local councils. 83% of Steventon residents opposed the reservoir plan when surveyed in 2015. Oxfordshire County Council have overwhelmingly rejected the plan.

GARD maintains that the water companies have not properly evaluated the alternatives to the reservoir (principally water transfer from the Severn to Thames, re-cycling of London’s water and desalination). This was tested by GARD and supporting organisations at a Public Inquiry in 2010. The Inspector ruled against Thames Water’s plans until a proper evaluation had been done.

In 2019, the proposal resurfaced in Thames Water and Affinity Water’s plans. GARD continues to believe that more secure, lower cost and climate change resistant options have not been fairly investigated. The water companies also over-exaggerate the future needs of the region and remain responsible for huge wastage of water through leakage. There are thus strong and ongoing objections to the plans from GARD and local councils

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Click Here for the GARD website