THOUSANDS JOIN PROTEST AGAINST TEDDINGTON SEWAGE SCHEME
NEWS AND PHOTO SPECIAL
An estimated 1000 campaigners gathered at Burnell Open Space, at the River Thames in Kingston for a powerful demonstration against Thames Water’s proposed Teddington Direct River Abstraction (TDRA) scheme earlier today.
Organised by the Save Our Lands and River (SOLAR) campaign, the “Show Your Hands” event drew residents, swimmers and river users to the banks of the Thames in an impressive show of united and community opposition.
The protest featured striking visual moments as attendees formed the word “NO!” on the open grass and students from Richmond College presented a ecologically themed fashion show.
Earlier, on the water, members of the Teddington Bluetits swimming club joined kayakers, rowers, and other boaters at the site where Thames Water plans to extract up to 75 million litres of water per day during droughts, replacing it with treated sewage from Mogden Sewage Works.
The scheme, dubbed by campaigners as The Thames Sewage Pump’, is currently going through a statutory consultation.
It has sparked widespread concern among local residents and environmental groups. Critics argue that it threatens river health, biodiversity and public trust in water governance.
Thames Water maintains the project is essential for drought resilience, but campaigners say the environmental cost is too high.
Back on land, the crowd heard an impassioned speech from Twickenham MP Munira Wilson.
Questioning the company’s credibility in light of recent controversies she said: “Time and again, Thames Water have failed to allay our concerns about this proposal. The ecology of the river and our health could be compromised.
“They haven’t proved it is good value for money and our questions are met with a deafening silence. Thames Water can’t be trusted on raw sewage spills, last year saw 300,000 hours’ worth of raw sewage into the River Thames.”
Leading campaigner Ian McNuff didn’t mince his words: “Thames Water, your scheme is bad—full stop.”
He criticised the complexity and scale of the consultation, saying: “The consultation published 2,750 pages of documents. It takes 10 working days just to read them.”
Urging the crowd to act, he added, “Make sure you send an email to TDRA@ipsos.com to object to the scheme. Get 10 or 20 of your friends to do the same before the consultation closes on 26 August.”
The Save Our Lands and River campaign (SOLAR) continues to mobilise public opposition to the TDRA scheme, urging residents to participate in the consultation before the deadline.
More information about the campaign and how to get involved can be found on Save Our Lands and River’s website https://saveourlandsandriver.org.uk/.
Full details of the TDRA proposal are available on Thames Water’s consultation website https://thames-sro.co.uk/projects/tdra/.