Over the past few years Maida Vale residents have suffered a spate of flooding in the W9 area. At the last Maida Vale Area Forum held in Paddington Academy on the evening of the 11th of November, residents were told by Thames Water representatives that the water industry regulator OFWAT will determine whether TW can make the long term investment necessary to sort this issue out once and for all. (For the background and subsequent developments see coverage in the West End Extra.)
Now I was very surprised to hear that OFWAT micro-managed Thames Water’s investment programmes so tightly, given that OFWAT’s role is to protect consumers. Yes, major projects like investment in the Thames Tideway Tunnel would require OFWAT consent, I thought, but surely not some localised investment. However, I was later told that 90 per cent of Thames Water’s investment programme had indeed been approved by OFWAT. So the question now is: why wasn’t the investment required in Maida Vale included in TW’s approved investment programme? I have written to David Owen, the CEO of Thames Water, to that effect and await his response
Thank you for highlighting this problem. Residents in the area are fed up with being ignored by Thames Water! It’s good that TW went to the Maida Vale Area forum. Let’s hope they now take this problem seriously.