We work closely with key stakeholders in local and regional government. Developing and maintaining good relationships helps ensure that we are able to meet the commitments of our regulatory contract, and communicate effectively in areas where there are major sites or engineering works.
We proactively contact stakeholders to give early briefings on our projects, such as our Victorian Mains Replacement programme, and seek to take into account other planned works to ease the impact on the local community.
We work closely with stakeholders who have taken part in consultations on our future plans. Once plans have been agreed, it is important for us to go back to stakeholders so they can see how their comments have influenced our proposals. For example, we have held six-monthly public meetings concerning the Counter's Creek Sewer Flooding Alleviation Scheme in west London, as well as setting up a website about the project. Partly as a result of customers' feedback, we will also be installing in the next few years 600 flood-relief devices to provide interim temporary flood mitigation for individual properties. A range of stakeholders, including local councillors and residents, also supported our case for including this project in the five-year business plan we presented to Ofwat in 2009.
Members of the London Assembly regularly request our support and input on matters of interest, and we provide relevant information and briefings where needed. The London Tideway Improvements project is one such scheme where consultation is critical and close contact with such stakeholders is greatly beneficial.
The requirement established in the Flood and Water Management Act for local authorities to produce surface water management plans will influence our future operations and investment, as well as drainage maintenance, public engagement, land-use planning, emergency planning and future housing and commercial developments. We are working in partnership with local authorities and key organisations to understand the causes and effects of flooding and agree the most effective ways forward.
Our programme of community investment is designed to benefit those areas where we have a major presence in the local community. This includes a three-year commitment to sponsoring the Blue Ribbon Village, an interactive river and environmental zone at the London Mayor's Thames Festival. This provides us with an opportunity to meet our customers and tell them about our planned improvements for the river.
We have also been keenly involved with the London Youth Games and Regatta, supplying water and drinking bottles for the thousands of young people who have taken part.
Local councils and health authorities naturally take a great interest in the quality of drinking water we supply to communities across our region, and our plans for protecting and improving it.
We hold annual workshops to explain our current and future drinking water plans and to understand any concerns, ideas and developments from this specialist group.
More than 30 local authority and health authority representatives attended these workshops during the year.
Page externally verified