South West Water has this week confirmed they are resurrecting massive plans to build a second reservoir near Cheddar after dropping the project six years ago.
The proposed new reservoir – known as Cheddar 2 – would help provide drinking water for the South West region including the Burnham-On-Sea area, and was included in the water company’s five year business plan.
“As part of our 2025-2030 business plan we’re resurrecting plans for the Cheddar 2 reservoir, that will benefit customers across the Greater South West,” the company says in a statement.
It added that it is in the “early stages” of planning and is carrying out surveys to “inform the design of the scheme”.
“Across our entire region we are working hard to develop a multi-faceted demand and supply strategy to protect our supplies and break the cycle of drought,” it said.
Engineers have already begun surveying land after the announcement of the resurrected reservoir plans.
The plans were first proposed by Bristol Water and agreed in 2014, but the water watchdog Ofwat said it had “significant concerns” on whether a second Cheddar reservoir would be in the interests of customers.
Later, Bristol Water dropped the plan in 2018 and the company was bought out by the Pennon Group – which also owns South West Water.
The company said it will share updates on the Cheddar 2 plans over the coming months.
“Alongside Cheddar 2 plans, we are re-purposing disused quarries, investing in desalination, and looking at new river abstraction permits,” the company added.
