A WATER company has returned with plans for a pipeline which will stretch 8.1km through parts of Hampshire, including the Basingstoke borough council area.

Southern Water wants to construct a raw water pipeline from an agricultural field east of Totford, near Alresford, terminating in the Test Valley Trout Farm.

The provider first applied for the pipeline which will be used as part of the Candover Drought Order Scheme in 2020 but withdrew the plans in the December of that year after concerns from consultees, residents and stakeholders.

It has now returned with another application, applying to Hampshire County Council and South Downs National Park Authority for planning permission for the scheme.

Southern Water says the pipeline is needed to “contribute to the maintenance of water supply reliability in drought conditions, this ensuring a resilient supply for customers and socio-economic activity".

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In a planning statement, it says: “The scheme is a central component of the legal agreement signed between Southern Water and the Environment Agency under section 20 of the Water Resources Act 1991. It is a temporary measure up to the end of 2030, until new permanent supply solutions are in place and reduces the risk of more stringent drought measures, such as standpipes being required.

“The proposed development is a temporary scheme to help maintain water supplies to customers in Southern Water’s Western Area in severe drought conditions.

“The scheme can only operate when a separate Drought Order has been applied for by Southern Water and granted by the Secretary of State for the Environment. Unless or until a drought order is approved, there is no water available to transfer through the pipeline.”

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The majority of the scheme, 7.2km will be a permanent below-ground pipeline, with five temporary above-ground sections of pipeline and other temporary accesses, hardstandings, and plant, including a temporary water booster pumping station.

The proposals involve development on land not owned by Southern Water, notices have been served on landowners and tenants.

The application has received some criticism from members of the public, including Lord Mark Ashburton whose family owns The Grange at Northington and much of the land through which the proposed pipeline passes.

In an objection letter to the county council, Lord Ashburton said: “The Itchen and its tributary, the Candover brook are chalk streams which enjoy the highest status in the UK as Special Areas of Conservation and are habitats of internationally recognised importance. This application threatens the long-term health and survival of these habitats by abstracting water from the Candover aquifer during periods of severe drought when the river flows are already dangerously low. Southern Water argue that the chalk aquifer will recharge during the following winter and early spring, but there is no guarantee this will happen.”