Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘200-acre reservoir will swallow up my idyllic home of 26 years’
For 26 years, Karen Isaac and her family have enjoyed the idyllic setting of their home in a beautiful valley.
But plans to create a 200-acre reservoir at Broad Oak near Canterbury mean their house - and six others - will be swallowed up by a vast new lake. The homes will be demolished as part of South East Water’s vision for the huge water resource, details of which have just gone on display as part of a public consultation, which closes on February 20.
The £130 million scheme has been in the pipeline for decades but has now moved a step closer to reality as the firm presses ahead with its proposals. “We always knew that one day we would have to move, but it doesn’t make it any easier as that time draws nearer,” said mum-of three Mrs Isaac, who lives off Barnet’s Lane. “Wehavenoideawhenitwill happen or how much notice we will get, but clearly things are moving ahead now so it’s quite unsettling.”
Mrs Isaac says the family loves living in the peaceful location, surrounded by nature. “Everyone living around here and affected by having to leave in the future feels the same way,” she continued.
“It’s such a beautiful location and I do fear for the wildlife like
nightingales who sing to each other across the valley.” Mrs Isaac, who works for the Turn2us charity for people in poverty, and as an administrator at her local GP surgery, now has concerns for the future. “I don’t know where we will live because rents are so high and it is very unlikely to be in a location like this which we love so much,” she said. South East Water says it cannot yet give any timeframes for when its tenants will be required to leave their homes, but hopes to have the reservoir operational in 2033 or 2036, depending on progress.
It also plans to save and relocate a listed farmhouse. The company says it is developing a comprehensive environmental and nature strategy. It also points to the leisure opportunities a new reservoir could provide, including lakeside walks and cycle routes around the four-mile perimeter, as well as picnic locations, an educational centre and sailing and fishing activities. The plan is part of the company’s draft water strategy management plan which includes a desalination plant at Reculver near Herne Bay to boost water supply in the wake of huge housing development across the south east.
The reservoir project will be similar in scale and appearance to the company’s reservoir in Ardingly, West Sussex.
Its water resources strategy manager, Andrew Halliday, says water will be extracted from the Great Stour at Grove Ferry during winter to fill the reservoir, When operational, the ‘raw’ reservoir water will then go through an on-site treatment plant before being piped into the household supply network, providing an estimated 22 million litres a day.
South East Water says special attention will also be given to enhancing the surrounding environment, and protecting habitats and the village from construction traffic.
To that end, the site will be accessed by contractors via the Herne Bay Road to avoid the village.
But David Wadmore of the Sturry and Broad Oak Residents group says there are mixed feelings about the scheme. “The exhibition is comprehensive and South East Water staff very helpful,” he said. “Obviously, the security of future water supply is important and we have some environmental safeguards,” he said. “And given all the housebuilding we are facing, I guess we should be grateful the land isn’t being used for yet more homes. “But the negatives are all the construction traffic and all the extra visitors coming through the village when the reservoir is operational.
“There are concerns for the nearby SSSIS (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) and ancient woodlands, and the ability to put in an effective green corridor.” The idea of a reservoir in the area was first drawn up by Mid Kent Water almost 50 years ago. But the plans were dropped in 1976 following a public inquiry. They were revived in 2003, with the aim of having it operational between 2019 and 2030. After the merger of Mid Kent Water and South East Water, the plans continued to make slow progress but the reservoir, which will be capable of holding five billion litres of water, is now deemed vital to meet future demand.
If the company decides to aim for the 2033 completion date, a planning application is likely to be presented to Canterbury City Council around the year 2025.