Paul Hickey, Senior Director at the Regulators Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID), has written to the CEOs of Southern Water and Portsmouth Water setting out RAPID’s draft decision for the Hampshire Water Transfer and Water Recycling Project (HWTWRP) to progress to gate 4 of the RAPID programme.

The water companies are the solution owners of the HWTWRP Strategic Resource Option (SRO), one of 17 currently being progressed through the RAPID programme. Once operational, the HWTWRP would be capable of providing up to 90 million litres of water a day.

Paul Hickey confirms in his letter that RAPID will allow further funding for the solution to progress to gate 4 and that evidence had been provided that all expenditure on the scheme was efficient and should be allowed.

Solution progress and funding

RAPID has allowed funding for the project to continue up to £26.36 million for progressing the solution towards gate four in the period to end March 2025. The additional allowances for completing gate four in the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2030 will be determined as part of the Price Review 2024 (PR24) process. RAPID has also determined that all expenditure of £39.40 million is efficient and appropriate and allowed it in full.

Southern Water set out in the gate three submission that the original allowance for gate four of £10.8 million (2017/18 prices) was not sufficient funding to achieve the maturity of planning required for a Development Consent Order (DCO) application – a DCO is a major deliverable for gate four. “Having reviewed the evidence provided by Southern Water, we agree with this,” Paul Hickey writes.

The letters were accompanied by a separate draft decision document for the solution setting out RAPID’s decisions on priority actions, actions and recommendations which identify specific steps that Southern Water and Portsmouth Water should take in preparing for gate four.

Gate four timing and next steps

Southern Water and Portsmouth Water have proposed a date for gate four of September 2025, alongside:

• a planning application submission date of July 2025
• a construction ready date of December 2028
• an operational ready date of March 2034.

Following publication of the gate three draft decision, RAPID is inviting solution owners and other interested parties to respond to the gate three draft draft decision. Deadline for representations, including evidence from solution owners that priority actions have been addressed, is 6pm on 17 January 2025.

All representations will be considered before the final decision is published which RAPID is currently aiming to publish on 21 February 2025.

Click here to download the draft decision document in full