Thames Water's plans for the controversial super sewer came under fire again last week at a meeting in Fulham from highly vocal local opposition.

More than 500 hundred people were present at  Hurlingham & Chelsea School to challenge Thames Water’s proposal to local the giant super sewer drive shaft in Carnwath Road, Fulham.

Concerned parents said that the 29,000 lorry movements needed at the site will endanger pedestrians and the thousands of children who attend schools in the area after Thames Water confirmed that a minimum of 33 lorries would be working in the area for at least six years. Five schools are all within a mile of the planned site.

Feelings were running high at the two-and-a-half hour meeting, where residents shouted ‘outrageous’ and ‘shame on you’ at representatives from Thames Water.

The meeting was the first time the community has been able to question Thames Water officials after Carnwath Road was announced as the preferred location.

Phil Stride, head of the Thames Tunnel project, said:

“In terms of keeping children safe we would work to minimise the amount of lorry movements and, obviously, we would not want to have those lorry movements when the children are going into, or coming out of, school.”

A statement from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF), the Council which is spearheading the campaign against the tunnel, said:

“The residential area around Fulham riverside is not suitable for the main super sewer drive shaft, and school children and vulnerable residents should not be put at risk to boost profits for Australian bankers.”

“Thames Water is owned by Australian bank Macquarie and water industry finance experts have said the value of Thames Water as a company could rise by 40% if the super sewer, or Thames Tunnel as it is also known, goes ahead.”

Other concerns raised at the meeting included:

• The 50ft ventilation tower for noxious fumes will permanently scar the riverfront.
• Light, noise and vibration pollution associated with the major construction site will last for a minimum of 24 hours a day, seven days a week for at least six years – the length of a child’s primary education.
• Many of the 15,000 homes and 2,000 businesses located within 2,000 yards of the proposed site will suffer from dampened property values.
• The Thames Tunnel will not solve a single basement flooding problem.

Carnwath Road became the preferred site on the day phase two of the public consultation process began. LBHF said that this gave local people just 14 weeks to respond compared to other sites, where people have had more than 14 months to galvanize support.

Council will continue to oppose the scheme

Council Leader, Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, has vowed to continue to fight Thames Water. He commented:

“This will cause maximum disruption to the area and cause misery to the lives of people living in Fulham, and we will fight it all the way. When we first highlighted the problems with the super sewer, all those years ago, we were accused of scaremongering but now Fulham faces a clear and present danger to its precious riverside. And you can be assured that the council will continue to defend Fulham's riverside and Carnwath Road to the bitter end as well as continue to oppose the current scheme.

"We have just weeks to reverse Thames Water’s current proposals and we will be straining every sinew to persuade them there are less disruptive options.

“Fulham is uniting to say no to these plans. The super sewer is a sledge hammer to crack a nut and we should trust the respected world experts who have repeatedly come forward to say there are cheaper, greener and less disruptive ways to improve water quality in the Thames.”

The campaigners have also launched two YouTube videos showing why the residential area is totally unacceptable for the major sewer works at:

Super sewer: I am not a brownfield site

Super sewer: A community under threat