Southern Water Blocks Tankers Supplying Billionaire’s Lake
A controversy has erupted around Conholt Park, a 2,500-acre Wiltshire estate owned by American billionaire Stephen Schwarzman. Recently, it was discovered that water tankers had been transporting large volumes of water from Hampshire—an area currently under drought restrictions—to the estate, where construction has been under way, including the creation of a new artificial lake.
Local residents began raising concerns after spotting and recording tankers filling up at standpipes in Hampshire, where hosepipe bans remain in place for ordinary households. Some residents even coordinated night-time watches, following the tankers to track their movements. They estimated that more than 30 tankers per day were making the eight-mile journey, with claims that over a million litres of water might have been transported daily. To those living under strict restrictions, the sight of convoys filling up a private estate’s lake felt outrageous.
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Southern Water, the supplier for the region, confirmed that it had been alerted to the unusual tanker activity and later admitted there had been a sharp spike in water extraction. Although the tankers were legally permitted to operate under existing construction rules, Tim McMahon, the company’s managing director, described the situation as “appalling.” He announced that Southern Water had imposed an immediate ban on tanker companies collecting water from those standpipes and pledged a full review of how such loopholes had been exploited.
Mr. Schwarzman’s representatives, however, defended the practice. They stated that the water had been sourced through fully licensed providers and that the majority of the estate’s irrigation system would eventually maintain the lake rather than imported tanker deliveries. They argued that the suggestion of wrongdoing was “false and misleading” and insisted that extraordinary care had been taken to ensure all works complied with local laws and regulations. According to their statement, much of the water was sourced from outside the affected region.
Nevertheless, the optics of the situation struck a nerve. Ordinary residents, unable to water their gardens or fill paddling pools due to the hosepipe ban, saw fleets of tankers moving day and night to service the estate of one of the world’s richest men, worth more than £30 billion. The contrast was difficult to ignore, fueling frustration and a sense of unfairness.
Southern Water has said it will hold “robust conversations” with those involved and tighten oversight to prevent similar cases in the future. While no law was technically broken, the episode has highlighted the tension between wealthy landowners’ private projects and the water shortages faced by local communities.
At the heart of the debate lies a simple question: during a drought, should the same water that is restricted for everyday use be transported—legally or not—to fill a billionaire’s lake? For many in Hampshire, the answer feels obvious.
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