Local MP, Munira Wilson, spoke out against Thames Water's Teddington Direct River Abstraction (TDRA) project last week after the company failed to attend a community meeting hosted by campaign group Save Our Land and River (SOLAR) at The Wharf on Tuesday (29 July).

In her speech Wilson said: "How can we trust you [Thames Water] when you have failed for years to invest in the infrastructure and therefore the fact that we've got hundreds of millions of litres of water being leaked out of the water systems every day.

"And the TDRA is only going to save a fraction of that."

SOLAR hosted a community meeting in protest of Thames Water's Teddington Abstraction project at The Wharf on Tuesday (credit: Nub News)

At the meeting, thousands of people signed SOLAR's handmade postcards in protest against the TDRA project, which can be collected at The Wharf, The Anglers, and The Flying Cloud Café.

The postcards must be signed by 26 August.

In response to the Twickenham MP's statement, a Thames Water spokesperson said: "We have a good track record when it comes to delivering major infrastructure projects.

"Earlier this year the Thames Tideway Tunnel was fully connected and will reduce the volume of discharges entering the tidal Thames in a typical year by 95%. To date the tunnel network has diverted over 7.8 million tonnes of sewage from the river.  

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 "Leakage is also at its lowest ever level on our network, down 13.2% since 2020, but we know we have more work to do. As part of our plan to secure future water supply, we've committed to halving leakage by 2050 and helping our customers reduce their water use. 

"However, this alone won't be enough, we need to invest in new sources of water.

"Our proposed Teddington Direct River Abstraction project will protect Londoners' water supply during periods of drought, providing up to 75 million litres of water each day.  

 "Local communities also have our absolute assurance that no sewage will enter the River Thames through our Teddington Direct River Abstraction Project (TDRA). It is physically impossible by design."

Speaking about why it did not attend Tuesday's meeting, a spokesperson from the company told Nub News: "We're over halfway through our statutory consultation where we are gathering feedback on our proposed Teddington Direct River Abstraction project.

"As part of our consultation, we recently held eight in person events and two online welcoming over 700 people. Residents have been able to find out more about the project, ask questions and speak face-to-face with our team."  

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