Confirmation of independent investors to finance and deliver the Thames Tideway scheme and award of Ofwat licence means works can start to secure future for the river, says Andy Mitchell.

I would like to acknowledge the hard work that has been put in by many people and organisations over the past eight years to get to this hugely important point in London's history.  

The Tideway tunnel is the biggest and final step in halting the regular pollution of the Thames.  

"This is also an historic day for the river Thames and London as we not only set about cleaning up the river and all that that entails for the health of people and wildlife but for what this action can do for the way we use and think about our great river"

With continuing building development, an ever increasing population and increasingly variable weather conditions the tunnel is the only solution that will bring to an end the discharge of tens of millions of tonnes of discharge from our sewers.

This is an important day for the engineering and construction industry in that with the award of £2bn worth of construction contracts today to work for Tideway (the newly created water company) we can now set about the training of hundreds of new people - engineers and apprentices amongst them - boosting the economy of course but more importantly providing lifelong careers for many people on the river and on and below ground.

Our task over the next seven years is quite simply to make sure London has a sewerage system capable of meeting the capital’s modern-day needs. Everyone in the team is excited and can’t wait to get started.

But this is also an historic day for the river Thames and London as we not only set about cleaning up the river and all that that entails for the health of people and wildlife but for what this action can do for the way we use and think about our great river - what we have called Reconnecting London and Londoners with the Thames.

"This is  a once in a generation opportunity and we are determined to raise the bar in every way"

But it is not just about cleaning up the river, important though that is. Nor is it just about building a tunnel. It’s about making sure we transform the River Thames, making it central to the capital’s wider social and economic well-being. 

Through our commitment to remove excavated materials by barge, the opportunity to rejuvenate the river as a transport artery will be a particular focus for us.

This is a once in a generation opportunity and we are determined to raise the bar in every way, not least the way we treat local communities potentially most directly affected by construction works.

Andy Mitchell is chief executive of Tideway, the delivery organisation for the Thames Tideway Tunnel scheme