Our Statutory Consultation is open
South East Strategic Reservoir Option (SESRO)
We're holding a statutory public consultation on the South East Strategic Reservoir Option (SESRO). We’re proposing a new reservoir in Oxfordshire, near Abingdon, to supply water to 15 million people across the South East, including customers of Thames Water, Affinity Water, and Southern Water.
Our statutory consultation runs for 11 weeks from 28 October 2025 to 11.59pm on 13 January 2026, and we invite you to have your say on our proposals.
The feedback gathered during our consultation will inform our Development Consent Order (DCO) application, which we expect to submit to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in Autumn 2026.
We're seeking your feedback on our current proposals, including:
- Our indicative master plan (please see image below)
- Our current design proposals
- Our indicative construction activities and schedule
- Managing potential impacts on local communities and the environment
- Our approach to sustainability, project benefits and legacy
You can find our consultation materials in the Document Library and join our community information events to discover more.
Our indicative master plan
We ask that you provide your feedback in one of the following ways:
- Fill in our online feedback form or click on "Have your say" below
- Email our dedicated consultation response address at SESRO@ipsos.com
- Fill in one of our printed feedback forms and post it free of charge to FREEPOST SESRO CONSULTATION
- Write to us free of charge at FREEPOST SESRO CONSULTATION
All consultation responses must be received in writing by 11.59pm on Tuesday 13 January 2026.
We've produced a range of consultation materials to help you find out more about our proposals, including documents, videos and maps. In our document library, our Statutory Consultation Brochure provides an overview of the project, our current proposals and the public consultation. We've also produced a Consultation Materials Fact Sheet which sets out what consultation materials are available.
Printed copies of consultation documents are available at our community information events, and at selected venues in your local community, such as libraries and community centres. These deposit locations and information points are also listed in our Document Library.
Join us at one of our 7 in-person events where you can view our current proposals and talk to our project team about them. For those who can't attend the in-person sessions, we're also running 2 online events. Please click here to find out more.
You can open the full document library and view or download any of the documents published for public statutory consultation. Please click here to find out more.
The Preliminary Environmental Information (PEI) Report shows our initial assessment of the project’s likely significant environmental effects. The PEI Report Non-Technical Summary (NTS) document summarises this information.
We've also created a digital interactive version of the PEI Report NTS, which guides you through the chapters showing relevant information on various maps.
You can contact us for more information or printed materials by emailing info.SESRO@thameswater.co.uk. Alternatively, leave a message with any queries about our statutory consultation on 0800 033 6677. If you’d like printed copies of the statutory consultation brochure and feedback form, let us know and we’ll post one per household free of charge. We can also provide information in alternative formats such as translations, large print or Braille.
You may request a full printed set of statutory consultation documents, including the PEI Report, though we reserve the right to charge up to £200 (inc P&P) per set. All documents are available free online and can be viewed in the community at our deposit locations throughout the consultation period.