Group Against Reservoir Development

GARD: Group Against Reservoir Development

GARD campaigns for a smarter, sustainable water strategy in the South East that ensures resilience against population growth, climate change, and drought.

Using inflated demand projections, Thames Water is pushing for a reservoir without proper scrutiny, ignoring flood risks and design concerns. This flawed scheme risks decades of environmental harm and financial cost.

People matter: together we have a voice

The Reservoir needs planning permission to go ahead. Thames water does not have this permission yet.

Thames Water is preparing to apply for planning permission for the White Horse Reservoir, in November 2026. Because the proposed Reservoir is a major national infrastructure project, it bypasses local planning, and Thames Water must apply to the Planning Inspectorate for a Development Consent Order (DCO).

To find out more about the planning process and the Development Consent order, please click the link below:

Find out More about the DCO

What you can do

Register with the Planning Inspectorate to receive updates on the DCO.

Working together, we can help to ensure the best solution for the long-term water supply of our local area and the wider South East.

What is the proposed reservoir?

Find out more about Thames Water’s proposed reservoir which would be situated between Steventon, Drayton, Marcham, East Hanney and Abingdon.

What is the reservoir?

Why does GARD oppose the reservoir?

The proposed reservoir is a solution in search of a problem. Find out more about the reasons GARD opposes the reservoir.

GARD’s Objections

What are GARD’s alternatives?

Read more about GARD’s safe and environmentally sustainable alternatives to the proposed reservoir.

GARD’s alternatives

Latest News…

Summer 26 update

GARD has continued to be busy with the campaign to raise awareness about the proposed Reservoir and oppose its development. Below is the latest update on progress with the campaign. The proposed Reservoir does not have planning permission; Thames Water will not put in its application for a Development Consent Order until November 2026 at…
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GARD calls on regulators to protect the public

In a major submission to the regulators, Ofwat and RAPID, on their draft Gate 3 decision on the South East Strategic Reservoir Option (SESRO), GARD warns that the proposed Reservoir now represents a serious failure of governance, transparency and public protection. GARD’s submission to Ofwat/RAPID on the SESRO Gate 3 draft decision (available here) shows…
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Councils submit damning responses to Thames Water’s Reservoir Consultation

Vale of White Horse District Council and South Oxfordshire District Councils have submitted their formal responses to Thames Water’s statutory consultation on the South East Strategic Reservoir Option (SESRO) — and the verdict is clear. The councils’ assessment is a powerful and unequivocal critique of a project that remains unjustified as best value, unsafe for people and…
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GARD responds to seriously flawed DCO statutory consultation. *Deadline extended to 23rd Jan*

EMAIL SESRO@ipsos.com to ensure your concerns are logged. GARD has submitted its response to Thames Water’s pre-Development Consent Order consultation, raising serious concerns about both the process and the proposed reservoir scheme. GARD believes that the consultation documents fail to provide sufficient detail on the design, construction and operation of the reservoir, making it impossible…
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Oxford County Council passes unanimously motion on emergency drawdown

The Council today passed unanimously the following motion, proposed by Gavin McLauchlan, Oxford County Councillor for Benson and Crowmarsh: “Council notes that in July 2025 a judicial review upheld the Secretary Of State for the Environment’s decision to approve the proposed Thames Water Resources Management Plan which includes the South East Strategic Reservoir Option in Abingdon. As a result,…
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Consultation Response Guide

GARD’s Guide to responding to Abingdon Reservoir Statutory Consultation: What do the Questions mean? Response to Thames Water Development Consent Order HELP WITH QUESTIONSQ7 Please provide us with your comments on our Indicative Master Plan:Overall layout / footprint of proposed reservoir: its size, shape, very large land-take; how theembankments and infrastructure would sit in the…
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READ PAST GARD NEWS Articles

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Please sign our petition to stop Thames Water’s £6.6 billion mega-reservoir!

SIGN THE PETITION

GARD: Group Against Reservoir Development, CPRE The Countryside Charity, Stop Thames Water's costly mega-reservoir - fix the leaks!

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Professor Chris Binnie

Professor Chris Binnie is a civil engineer specialising in dam design and
construction. He has a degree in Mechanical Sciences and in law from
Cambridge University and completed the Imperial College post graduate course
in soil mechanics specialising in dam design. He has been a Fellow of the
Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) since 1976. He became a Fellow of the
Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) in 1976,
and was President in its centenary year, 1995. He was elected a Fellow of
the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1994. He was an Honorary Professor at
Kingston University from 1995-2007 and then at Exeter University 2008-2025
lecturing on dam design.

Chris was founder chairman of the CIWEM Water Resources Expert Panel in 1992
and continued to serve on it until 2022. He was a member of the ICE Water
Board from 1987 to 2019. He was a Panel Engineer under the Reservoirs Act
from 1980 to 2008 including serving on the ICE Reservoirs Committee and
interviewing candidates for Panel Engineer status. He has been a member of
the British Dams Society since 1973.

Chris worked for Binnie & Partners, the consulting engineering company
founded by his great grandfather, from 1969 to 1978 working primarily on dam
design including the 70m high Marchlyn dam. He was site staff on the
construction of the earth fill Grafham reservoir and the Farmoor reservoir.
He then joined WSAtkins as head of their water consultancy. His work
included the design of the 70m high Gargar dam, the detailed design of the
50m high Aid Zada dam, and the design verification of the 110m high Yuvecik
dam in an earthquake prone area in Tukey. He reported on the raising of the
existing Abberton dam, and on the Darwell dam, and on the design of 30m
high Broadoak dam in Kent. He was Construction Engineer for the Norton
Fitzwarren dam and Newdale reservoir. In 1994 he became a Main Board
Director of WSAtkins including floating the company.

Mr John Lawson

John Lawson is a civil engineer specialising in water resources engineering with a degree in mechanical sciences from Cambridge University. Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) since 1985 and of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) since 1988, he was invited in 2002 to become a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineers in recognition of his contribution to water resources engineering.

He served on the Water Resources Expert Panel of CIWEM from 1994 to 2002 and was its Chairman from 1997 to 2002. He served on the Water Board of the Institution of Civil Engineers from 2002 to 2007, and was its Chairman from 2003 to 2007.

He worked for Halcrow Group Ltd., Consulting Engineers, from 1968 to 2007. Throughout his career he was engaged on projects for water supplies, flood control, irrigation and hydropower, becoming a Director of Halcrow Group Ltd. from 1990, and Managing Director of its water business from 2003 to 2007. He has been responsible for numerous water resource planning studies in England and Wales, with a particular focus on minimising the impact of abstractions on the environment.

From 1991 to 1994 he was responsible for Halcrow’s work assisting the National Rivers Authority to develop its water resource strategy for England and Wales, which was published in 1994. This involved helping the NRA and water companies to examine a wide range of strategic options to meet future demands, including the Severn transfer and the Abingdon reservoir. His role in this was project manager, coordinating the work of the NRA and all the water companies concerned, including assisting the NRA in analysing the strategic options and developing their strategy.

Since his retirement from Halcrow he has worked as a voluntary water resources adviser to Action for the River Kennet, and the Wye & Usk Foundation. He is also a Trustee of the Thames Restoration Trust. In 2007 he prepared a report for Halcrow on transferring water to the Thames catchment from Wales, including the Severn transfer.