Get in touch

Many thanks for your question.

The approved reservoir planning application includes a recreation strategy that was consulted on with stakeholders, community representatives and local people. The consultation feedback was that large-scale water sports, including sailing and canoeing, should not be allowed, as this would create additional traffic and activity at the site, impacting nearby communities and wildlife. Instead, the reservoir should be a place for quiet enjoyment, with a visitor centre, as well as a new network of paths for leisure, facilities for bird watching and a play and picnic area. 

In this spirit, we are exploring a number of potential small-scale activities via our Recreation stakeholder group, which is made up of local community representatives. This includes model yacht sailing, angling on a limited scale (with accessible pontoons for people to fish from highlighted as being key) and small-scale community water sports, such as sailing for local schools.

By way of background, the recreation strategy for Havant Thicket Reservoir, and the level of recreation it is based on, was determined through discussions over many years with our long-established Havant Thicket Reservoir Stakeholder Advisory Group, which is made up of local community groups, councillors, schools, environmental organisations and other bodies. These discussions were informed by surveys with local communities and learning from other reservoir sites and public parks. 

We carefully considered a range of potential leisure activities at the reservoir site, including different water sports. As part of this process, Planning Solutions Ltd, whose team are experts in developing and managing water-based visitor attractions, were asked to review the visitor experience offer at the reservoir. The options report they put forward is available to read on our reservoir project website at: https://havant-thicket-reservoir.uk.engagementhq.com/19578/widgets/55562/documents/32171.

All three scenarios scoped by Planning Solutions (Low, Medium and High activity levels) were tested extensively with our Havant Thicket Reservoir stakeholder group. The overwhelming feedback received, from talking with the group, as well as written surveys and discussions with the local community, has been not to offer large-scale public water sports at the reservoir. Instead, the stakeholder group members selected the ‘Medium’ level plan, with the proviso of providing scope for future expansion. This was because it would feel like a much busier place if there was a more intense water sports offer, attracting more people and putting greater strain on the environment, facilities and local communities. 

Many thanks for your questions. Please see our answers below.

We anticipate there would be no impact in terms of the reservoir’s role as a new, green leisure facility, if Southern Water’s water recycling proposals were to go ahead – these are known as the Hampshire Water Transfer and Water Recycling Project, with further detail provided below.

Although further analysis and assessments are required, initial studies suggest that the highly-treated recycled water that could enter Havant Thicket Reservoir would be cleaner in many respects than the spring water that would be used to fill it. At the same, it’s also important to remember that the reservoir will be an open body of water, supporting a wide variety of wildlife, including birds, and accessible to dogs being walked in the area. With swimming by people, we don’t think it would be safe to allow this in a cold, deep and unsupervised reservoir. As with all water sources for public supply, any water from Havant Thicket Reservoir would be treated to meet strict drinking water standards before being supplied to customers.

We will ensure that all the environmental and recreational commitments made in the original plans for Havant Thicket Reservoir, and which received formal planning permission in 2021, are maintained if the water recycling proposals were to go ahead. This includes delivering an overall environmental ‘net gain’ through the original reservoir scheme.

In terms of monitoring that may be in place, should the water recycling proposals be implemented, the quality of the water entering the reservoir would be monitored and tested by Southern Water and Portsmouth Water, with further monitoring and regulation by the Environment Agency. 

One idea that is being considered by Southern Water is whether telemetry (automatic electronic monitoring) can be installed to provide live, publicly available data on the quality of the recycled water going into the reservoir.  From our point of view, we would have no issue with the public sampling and testing the reservoir water, as long as this was done safely. However, given the independent oversight there would be via the Environment Agency and, more broadly, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, we would hope that this would not be necessary.

Of course, this is part of discussions as the Hampshire Water Transfer and Water Recycling Project proposals are further developed, with further consultation to follow.  There will be a great deal of consultation ahead of the detailed plans being considered for approval by water sector regulators and the Government.

Key background information

Climate change, a rapidly growing population, and the need to keep more water in the environment to support wildlife means we have to find new ways to keep taps and rivers flowing in the future.

If we don’t find new solutions to provide water, we could face a shortfall of 2.7 billion litres of water a day by 2075 in the South East of England alone. That compares to a daily total of six billion litres of water supplied to customers across the region currently.

A range of measures are needed to successfully address the challenges we face, from further reducing leaks and supporting customers to use water wisely, to solutions like water recycling, which is set to play a key role in the coming decades, with a total of nine recycling schemes proposed for the South East of England and more across England as a whole.

Southern Water has agreed to take less water from world-renowned chalk streams, the River Test and the River Itchen in Hampshire - to protect and support these rare and sensitive ecosystems. This will leave the company with a daily deficit of 192 million litres of water in its Hampshire supply area, in the event of prolonged dry weather. 

We’re a community-orientated company and pride ourselves on doing the right thing. We want to help our neighbour to address this challenge.

As a result, we’re working with Southern Water to build the new Havant Thicket Reservoir in Havant, having received planning permission in October 2021. This is so we can store surplus water from our local springs, enabling us to provide up to 21 million litres of water a day to Southern Water during a drought.

Proposals to add highly-treated recycled water to the reservoir, to supplement water levels, are being developed. These are known as the Hampshire Water Transfer and Water Recycling Project, with further public consultation on them planned for this year. 

Recycled water is highly treated, purified water, which in most respects would be cleaner than the spring water feeding into the reservoir. If approved to go ahead, the water recycling proposals would mean Havant Thicket Reservoir could supply a further 90 million litres of water a day to Southern Water. 

Hi there, if you mean the feedback form for our current reservoir pipelines consultation, it can be found via our Reservoir pipeline webpage, or the direct link is as follows: Reservoir pipeline | Havant Thicket Reservoir project (engagementhq.com) 

Many thanks

Many thanks for your question and apologies for the delay in replying to you.

The idea of having floating solar panels at Havant Thicket Reservoir is something we have carefully considered, particularly given the solar array that’s been in place for some years at Thames Water’s Queen Elizabeth II reservoir near London.

We have published an over-arching Renewable Energy Strategy for the reservoir scheme, which we can send you a copy of, if this would be of interest. 

We continue to keep an open mind on the potential for floating solar panels and will periodically review our renewable energy strategy in the years to come. However, as it stands, we are prioritising delivery of the core environmental benefits of the reservoir, such as the creation of a new wetland area on the reservoir’s northern shore, which will provide a range of important new habitats and increase biodiversity for the Havant area.  

More broadly, as a company, we are significantly reducing our carbon footprint, including through an ongoing programme of solar panel installation at our various operational sites. This is in line with the wider UK water industry commitment to be net zero carbon for daily operations by 2030.

Hi there, many thanks for your question.

We’re working to make sure that the reservoir site is as accessible as possible for members of the public, both during construction of the reservoir and once it’s completed and operational in 2029. That’s in the context of the area being safe and secure for everyone to enjoy responsibly.

As part of this, we’ll be developing a detailed Site Management Plan, which will cover a wide range of issues, such as when and how the site can be visited. This plan will be developed with input from a broad variety of community representatives, like those who sit on our well-established reservoir stakeholder advisory group. 

We are also drawing on the extensive expertise and experience of key partners – namely Hampshire County Council Countryside Service, which owns and manages nearby Staunton Country Park and Queen Elizabeth Country Park elsewhere in Hampshire, and Forestry England, the organisation that manages Havant Thicket woodland next to the reservoir site. 

Furthermore, we’re talking to other water companies and other groups that manage reservoirs for leisure and recreation, to understand what approach would work best for Havant Thicket Reservoir.

All the best.

Thanks very much for getting in touch. The current approved plan for the reservoir has no element of recycled water associated with it. Together with Southern Water, we are exploring options for the future, which might include adding highly-treated recycled water to the reservoir, but these options are in an early feasibility stage at this moment.

We know that the transfer of heat from wastewater in the sewer system, as a low carbon heat source, is being trialled by a wastewater company as a forerunner in the UK water industry. Portsmouth Water, as water supply company, is already looking at district heating technology for a major new housing development at another location.

For Havant Thicket Reservoir, we are considering all potential options for renewable energy generation and will provide further updates on this as our plans and designs progress.

All the best.

Hi Nigel, many thanks for your query and apologies for not coming back with a full answer sooner.

One of the core objectives in developing our design for the reservoir has been to preserve the unique setting and rural character of the landscape. This has included ensuring the design is sympathetic to the nearby historic park and gardens at Staunton Country Park. In addition, we wanted to maintain and integrate the rural landscape character and woodland setting.

All these factors shaped the reservoir design which we submitted as part of our planning applications for the Havant Thicket Reservoir scheme. These applications were both approved by Havant Borough Council and East Hampshire District Council in late 2021, after careful examination of all the information we provided, including on minimising visual impact.

The reservoir will be built within a natural bowl, so there will only be a high embankment on its southern side. The embankment will be 20 metres, rather than 22 metres, at its highest point, which will be midway between the reservoir site’s eastern and western boundaries, close to the boundary with woodland that’s part of Staunton Country Park. This means the high point will be away from local residential areas in Rowlands Castle and Warren Park / Leigh Park. From its high point, the embankment will slope down gradually, so that by the time it reaches the reservoir’s eastern and western edges it will be at a very low level.

Further details, including a cross section diagram of the embankment design, can be found on pages 33 to 37 of the Design & Access Statement that was part of our planning applications. 

All the best.

Dear Jennie,

Thank you for taking the time to write to us and please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to you. We are really pleased to hear you are supporting your local hedgehog population in Rowlands Castle and appreciate you have some concerns about the impact construction work may have on them.

The environment is at the very heart of the Havant Thicket Reservoir project and we are carrying out extensive work to protect all wildlife on and around the site, including hedgehogs. We are going above and beyond the commitments of our planning application with regards to environmental mitigation and compensation. Our plans include both onsite and offsite work that involves planting and improving more than 200 hectares of woodland and wood pasture as well as creating the new wetland on the northern shore to support local bird species.

We started creating new wildlife corridors on site in 2019, prior to receiving formal planning permission for the project. This involved planting 6,000 new trees and we are now working closely with local groups to supplement these corridors by relocating young saplings from The Avenue.

As the reservoir project progresses, we will maintain these areas and create additional environments, such as new hedgerows to the east of the site and dead hedging around ponds in Havant Thicket woodland. We anticipate that many of these areas will provide suitable and attractive habitats for local hedgehogs.

In addition to creating new habitats, ecologists have been monitoring work to ensure wildlife is safely translocated away from construction zones. For example, ecologists have helped to move more than 200 reptiles to new, safe habitats this summer. They have also been inspecting trees prior to removal to make sure no wildlife was present. The wildlife corridors further supplement our translocation programmes, by providing safe routes for animals to naturally migrate into the new, attractive habitats we have created near to the site.

Thank you for your suggestion about additional signage on the B2149 to make drivers aware of hedgehogs. We work closely with Hampshire County Council, the Highways Authority, and will be very happy to discuss this with them.

You can find more information about the Havant Thicket Reservoir project, and the environmental works we are carrying out, on our website: https://havant-thicket-reservoir.uk.engagementhq.com/   To receive regular, email updates, you can sign up to our e-newsletter here: https://www.portsmouthwater.co.uk/new-reservoir/contact/

Thank you again for getting in touch. We hope this helps to answer your questions and if you would like any further information about the project, please do let us know.

Kind regards,

Ruari Maybank

Project Director,

Havant Thicket Reservoir.

Hi there, many thanks for getting in touch.

Under the current approved plan for Havant Thicket Reservoir, it will be filled in winter with water from Bedhampton Springs that would otherwise flow out to sea.

Together with Southern Water, we are exploring options for the future, which might include adding recycled water to the reservoir, but these options are in an early feasibility stage at this moment.  You can find out more at: Potential future uses of Havant Thicket Reservoir.

We don’t think it would be safe to allow swimming at the reservoir, as the water will be cold and deep.

In that context, we're carefully considering the issue of water safety, as we develop the detailed design for the reservoir.

Safety is our number one priority and while can’t completely eliminate the risk with any body of water, there are measures which can reduce it. We're working with water safety advisory bodies, other managers of reservoirs and the local communities to make sure we do everything to keep everyone safe around the water

More broadly, the level of recreation at the reservoir has been agreed with the Havant Thicket Stakeholder group after many years of discussions, surveys with local communities and learning from other reservoir sites and public parks. Overall, the consensus has been to provide a ‘Medium’ level of activity, to preserve the focus on maintaining quiet areas for wildlife, particularly around the wetland, and also not to encourage a very large number of visitors and the associated parking required. It will be 2028-29 before the reservoir is built and filled with water and we're continuing discussions with local communities about what activities they would like to see in the future.