Welsh Affairs

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 3:35 pm on 25 February 2010.

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Photo of Julie Morgan Julie Morgan Labour, Cardiff North 3:35, 25 February 2010

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me to speak in this important debate held on St. David's day. It is a great pleasure to follow Hywel Williams. I want to echo many of the points made, particularly from the Labour Benches, and to wish all retiring Members all the best for the future-they have been good friends and comrades.

Like the hon. Member for Caernarfon, I am an optimist and have great hope and confidence in what we can achieve in Wales. I do not play down the amount of suffering during the recession in my constituency, but despite all that I see great signs of hope. As I mentioned earlier, my constituency has seen a growth in the number of private companies and jobs, and last week I visited the partially built positron emission tomography-PET-scanner in the Heath hospital, which will be one of the most advanced scanners in the UK and the world. It is able to detect cancers and other diseases at a very early stage, because it detects the movement of cells. It is a miracle of engineering. I visited it and thought it one of the most advanced mechanisms of medical discovery in the world-and it has been built for the Health hospital and the health service in Cardiff. That is a huge tribute to what we can achieve.

Recently, I also visited many schools in my constituency to look at the new three to seven-year-old learn-through-play foundation phase. Huge resources have been put into that, and it is a delight to visit. Most of all, visiting the foundation phase classes, I was struck by the huge enthusiasm of the teachers. They said, "This is what we have always wanted for education. We want children to learn in this way, when they can express themselves." I am sure that it will be of long-term benefit to the children in Wales.

Those are just a few of the things that have given me this feeling of great optimism recently. However, I want to use most of my contribution to concentrate on one particular constituency issue-the big threat to the Llanishen reservoir in my constituency, and the threat to Cardiff as a whole. The threat has been of development and of concreting over part of the Llanishen reservoir, and the newest threat is of draining the reservoir. I have been campaigning on this issue for eight years, and I am sure that everybody here is probably fed up of hearing me mention it. I remember raising it at nearly every session of business questions when my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was Leader of the House.

I am sure that most people here would have thought that this issue was settled and do not want to listen to me going on about it again. However, we are in a difficult situation. Western Power Distribution, which is a subsidiary of Pennsylvania Power and Light, has spent eight years trying to build a housing estate on Llanishen reservoir. Several planning applications have failed and there have been several appeals. There is no permission to build, and the plans are contrary to the existing council policy and the local development plan. The plans have also been strongly opposed by the local reservoir action group, and I would like to pay tribute to its present chairman, Andrew Hill, and its past chairman, Ted Thurgood, for their magnificent efforts in opposing the development.

Cardiff, unlike some cities, does not really have a green belt, but has four green wedges that follow the rivers that enter the city. Those green wedges go right down into the centre of the city, which gives the opportunity for many people in Cardiff to benefit from greenness, even if they live right in the centre of the town. Llanishen reservoir is based in one of these wedges, and development has always been forbidden in the Nant Fawr corridor. Despite the council's policy to keep the corridor for nature and greenery, WPD has engaged in eight years of attrition, seeking to build on, and now drain, the reservoir.

The reservoir is a hugely attractive amenity. Cardiff council has a sailing school there, where youngsters learn to sail, and it has unique water, which is absolutely pure, being made up entirely of rainwater. If someone falls out of the boat into Llanishen reservoir, there is no fear of suffering the effects of pollution.

Last Friday we received a telephone call at my office. It was reported to me that there was a lot of commotion up at the reservoir, so I went there personally and saw that pipes had been delivered and a unit set up. There were two security guards, who refused to grant me entry, and preparations for the draining of the reservoir had begun. WPD's justification for draining the reservoir is based on a 2008 report by a Dr. Andy Hughes, a dam engineer employed by the developer. The only recommendation in the report that is legally enforceable by the Environment Agency does not require the emptying of the reservoir. We fear that WPD is proceeding to drain the reservoir in order to make its planning application more likely to succeed.

Mark Acford, the enforcement officer in reservoir safety at the Environment Agency in Exeter, confirmed in writing to WPD on 18 February that Dr. Hughes's report does not specifically require a draw-down of the reservoir in the interests of safety. We now know that Dr. Hughes had inaccurate information. He thought that a draw-down would enable pipes at the bottom of the reservoir to be inspected for safety, but it is now known that those pipes are encased in concrete. He had also been told that there were regular leaks from a pipe that leads out from the reservoir, but that pipe has never leaked.

Because it was known that Dr. Hughes had based other suggestions that a draw-down was needed on incorrect information, RAG, the local action group, commissioned one of the most experienced and qualified water engineers in the country, Mr. Chris Binnie, to prepare a review of the situation. His detailed report, which is now fully in the public domain, is adamant that the emptying of the reservoir is not needed, either on safety grounds or to carry out the required survey. Mr. Binnie confirms in his report that he has spoken to Dr. Hughes on several occasions and had a meeting with him. Binnie confirms in his executive summary on page 2 that Dr. Hughes has said that

"based on the information provided by RAG, he"-

Dr. Hughes-

"should reconsider his recommendations," but that he has

"been instructed by his client not to communicate".

Binnie says that Hughes was unaware when he wrote his report in 2008 of the new information now to hand, which makes emptying the reservoir unnecessary. However, despite formal requests, he is refusing to review his recommendations.

We are therefore in a difficult situation. The threatened draining of the reservoir will have dire consequences for people in my constituency and in Cardiff generally. The youth sailing centre would be out of action for eight years, which is how long it would take to fill the reservoir up with rainwater. The ecology of the reservoir would be lost. It contains 300 million gallons of pure rainwater. There would be a threat of pollution to the streams that lead into Roath Park lake, with 10,000 cubic metres of silt being discharged.

There would also be likely structural damage to the clay core of the dam if it was left empty for a long period, as clay must be kept wet. Fissures or cracks would develop, and in those circumstances it would be easy for a leak to spring and the reservoir never to be refilled. That is important because the reservoir is now a listed building-the entire structure has been listed by Cadw-so any risk of damage is a criminal offence. Binnie says that if the reservoir was empty for six months, it could be damaged. Some precautionary action must be taken. In my view, the council or Cadw have the grounds to take out an injunction because of the damage that could be caused.

The fundamental issues are that Hughes is refusing to consider his report in light of new evidence. That raises issues about his professional integrity. RAG did not criticise his initial report on the grounds that he had incorrect information, but the two reasons that he gave for draining the reservoir are no longer valid, and it seems that Hughes is being muzzled by his client. I am pleased to have the opportunity to lay that out publicly today. I feel strongly that something must be done. Two engineers are fundamentally disagreeing about the way ahead, and one engineer is refusing to consider new evidence. Is there any way in which the Secretary of State could intervene, or ask Welsh Assembly Ministers to intervene? Perhaps the Institution of Civil Engineers could appoint an adjudicator to consider both reports. We need a cessation of draining while a review takes place. We need a stay of execution.

I strongly believe that Cardiff city council has the power to issue an injunction to stop the draining of the reservoir, because its sailing school is threatened. I also think that Cadw could issue an injunction to stop the damage being done to the listed building. Many of my constituents feel very strongly about this, and there is a strong campaign being run by the local newspaper, the South Wales Echo. Many people have written to WPD's parent company in the United States to highlight the strength of feeling, not only in my constituency but in the whole of the Cardiff area, that this reservoir and its area of natural beauty-which includes a site of special scientific interest-should be preserved. WPD has power and money. It has put up its dreadful steel fences and brought in its security guards. It seems absolutely determined to destroy this listed monument in the SSSI, which is part of the Nant Fawr corridor and is one of the features that gives Cardiff its uniqueness.

I am glad to have had the chance to put this situation on record today. I am appealing to the Secretary of State to see whether there is anything that he can do. There are many other important issues affecting my constituency, but I have chosen this one because it has touched so many people in Cardiff, North, and because of the many aspects-recreation, beauty, greenness and wildlife-that are so important for communities.