THAMES WATER PUMP PETITION NOTCHES UP OVER 3000 SIGNATURES
The petition aimed at attracting 100.000 signatures to trigger a Parliamentary debate on the Thames Water Pump at Teddington has already attracted over 3200 signatures, it was announced tonight.
The campaign group SOLAR (Save Our Lands and River) hosted a meeting at the Wharf restaurant in Teddington where it announced plans to increase publicity and awareness of the petition.
The magic number of 100.000 needs to be reached by November this year to prompt a discussion on the controversial sewage issue threatening to pollute the River Thames.
The petition states: “We urge the government to review the regulations for new sewage treatment infrastructure and introduce new legislation to ensure high international standards are met; to safeguard people’s health, better protect all water bodies and reduce damaging long term impacts.
“All new wastewater infrastructure must be built to well-established, higher international standards, in line with the revised EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) standards in force since 1 January 2025, to significantly reduce the pollution load on water bodies.
“Proposed new schemes built to outdated standards must be stopped as they will continue releasing biological and chemical contaminants, including forever chemicals, harming water bodies, wildlife, and public health. They also risk a dramatic increase in customer water bills to pay for expensive and avoidable upgrades.”
Leading campaigner Ian McNuff told the meeting that the petition had to be amended to be ‘more generic’ which had the advantage of attracting wider interest and support.
SOLAR also plans to distribute postcards around the local community with a simple QR code with a link to the petition.
It is understood that Thames Water will submit its final planning application for the Teddington Direct River Abstraction scheme ( TDRA) in September this year.
You can support the petition by signing here:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/763721
You can learn more about the SOLAR campaign here: www.saveourlandsandriver.org.uk