Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has given the green light to a controversial desalination plant, as part of a package of measures agreed with Thames Water. The new mayor has dropped a High Court challenge by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, against plans to build the £200m water plant at Beckton, which was backed by the mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales, and the Department for Communities and Local Government. In return, Thames Water has promised to work with Mr Johnson to reduce the impact of their roadworks on traffic in the capital, and will pilot schemes to ease disruption caused by its extensive programme to replace the city's Victorian water mains. The company has also agreed to capture and reuse waste energy generated by the planned Barking Power Station, which will be able to provide heating and hot water for up to 90,000 homes, and to a range of major water-efficiency measures to bring new housing developments up to the latest environmental standards. ‘We cannot risk London running out of water at times of drought, but this cannot be at any cost,' said Mr Johnson.
