That this House, whilst acknowledging that Texas Instruments Limited requires water of a high degree of purity for microchip manufacture in Bedford and Charles Wells Limited requires water of distinctive quality and constant composition for brewing beer in Bedford necessitating in both cases abstraction of borehole water drawn from their own wells, regrets that the applications by Texas Instruments and Charles Wells to abstract such water have been refused on the grounds that they would derogate the supplies of Anglian Water plc, a decision by the National Rivers Authority which grants to one private company, Anglian Water, a monopoly of the available underground water resources in the Bedford area; and calls upon the National Rivers Authority to ensure that each company is entitled to draw the quantity of underground water it reasonably needs without derogating the supplies of the others, particularly as Anglian Water has a number of existing alternative sources available to it, not least the river Ouse, the composition of whose water would be wholly unsuitable for the manufacturing processes of Texas Instruments and Charles Wells and that by an equitable allocation of water resources in line with existing practices the viability of these two manufacturers who are both major employers in the area will not be placed at risk.

That this House, whilst acknowledging that Texas Instruments Limited requires water of a high degree of purity for microchip manufacture in Bedford and Charles Wells Limited requires water of distinctive quality and constant composition for brewing beer in Bedford necessitating in both cases abstraction of borehole water drawn from their...