21-Sep-2022
Wendover -
Cut and Cover Tunnel, and
The Wendover Arm
Water flowing through the aquifer under Bacombe Hill (to the west of Wendover) feeds the Heron Stream, which flows from St Mary's Church to feed the Wendover arm of the Grand Uniion Canal at Wharf Road. There are long standing concerns that construction of the Wendover cut & cover tunnel will interrupt this flow, diverting it towards Aylesbury where it will potentially contribute to further flooding in the Fairfield Lees area.
The Heron Stream
entering the canal at Wharf Road -
taken during an exceptionally dry summer, August 2022
21-9-22; Request to EKFB
This was sent by the chairman of the Wendover Canal Trust, firstly to EKFB and then copied to the Environment Agency
“I am writing to seek your assurance that HS2 as it passes Wendover, Bucks, will not reduce the crucial water supply from the aquifers and wells into the Wendover Canal, also known as the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal. I am the Chairman of the Wendover Canal Trust, a volunteer group which has spent well over a million pounds (and at least the same equivalent in volunteer labour) restoring the Wendover Canal. The Wendover Canal is important in its own right, but most importantly carries more than half the water supply to the Grand Union Canal between London and Milton Keynes. The Grand Union Canal crosses the Chilterns at a summit level of 390 feet above sea-level, and the Wendover Canal supplies water to replace that lost on the Grand Union by every passing boat.
I have heard concerns from at least 2 other local bodies that HS2’s cut-and-cover excavation of the Wendover Green Tunnel, will cut through the aquifers which supply the water in the Heron Stream through Wendover, which in turn flows into the Wendover Canal at Wharf Road. This stream is a chalk stream, a very rare habitat. I am seeking your reassurance that if HS2 were to impact this water supply, you would permanently [i.e. not just during construction] supply at least the equivalent quantity of water, without that water containing any more material in suspension than the negligible amount it does now. Presumably your cutting/ tunnel will require some form of drainage; I suggest you engage with the Canal and River Trust (who manage most English and Welsh canals on behalf of the nation) to see if they can assist you with removal of your drainage, as they do with e.g. the West Coast mainline railway near Tring.
Were HS2 to reduce or remove the Wendover Canal water supply, the efforts of the Wendover Canal Trust would be wasted, and habitats destroyed. But also some of the many people who walk, cycle or holiday on the Grand Union Canal anywhere between London and Milton Keynes, would no longer be able to do so through lack of water. This in turn would impact the businesses which depend on this traffic, such as canal hire fleets… This threat appears to be real and imminent in the next few months of your work, and I look forward to hearing from you.”
It is not clear at present what action (if any) the EA will or have taken - see this news item - but it seems that EA have not yet given approval to HS2/EKFB.
There was also a proposal to remedy any reduction in water supply to the Weston Turville Reservoir SSSI, by taking water from the Wendover Canal. The Trust explained that this could not happen unless HS2/EKFB increase the water supply to the canal to compensate.