The Regulators' Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) has accepted a request from the West Country Water Resources Group for the Mendip quarries strategic water resource option to enter the RAPID gated process.
Writing to Julian Welbank Programme Director – Strategic Resource Options for Wessex Water, Paul Hickey MD of RAPID said that RAPID was formally accepting the request - initially by inviting the Group to submit a gate one report by December 6th requesting that the Mendip quarries strategic resource solution enters the RAPID gated process as a new water resource solution.
Depending on the outcome of the gate one assessment, the gate two submission will need to align with all other solutions on the standard track.
He explained that if the solution was accepted on to the RAPID programme, funding initially would be allocated up to gate three only.
Depending on progress through gates one and two, funding would be reassessed for gate three. The timetable for gates three and four would also be decided at this point with the potential for departure from the standard gated timetable.
Paul Hickey wrote:
“We welcome Mendip quarries making a gate one submission as a new solution with potential to support either West Country Water Resources or Water Resources South East depending on the need still to be established during the regional planning process and presented in the WRMPs.”