Welsh Water

Overview: Ardent tendered to be on Welsh Water’s framework to provide land agency services to support its internal estates function in 2021 for an initial three-year period. 

That has since been extended to 2030 thanks to the work the team has undertaken on a raft of projects across Wales.  

 

Background: Welsh Water is a not-for-profit water and sewerage company that supplies fresh drinking water and wastewater services across Wales and some parts of England. 

It serves more than three million people across 1.4 million homes and businesses – and has a vast network of infrastructure to maintain and upgrade.  

It is the sixth largest of the ten regulated water and sewerage companies in England and Wales. 

 

Approach: Ardent has been instructed on 134 projects in the North and South East regions of Welsh Water since being added to the framework, with 40 members of the team contributing to the contract from a range of directorates within the business. 

Ardent has been responsible for all developer services work where private individuals, businesses or organisations looking to develop land, request water supply or request water diversion for development, contact Welsh Water to do so. 

Under Sections 41 & 45 of the Water Industry Act, water companies are legally obliged to provide that supply and Ardent facilitates the land entry process through engagement with the landowners, serving statutory notice where necessary. 

Ardent reviews scheme proposals, provide compensation estimates and advice to mitigate disruption to third party land and consequential compensation liabilities, as well as assessing, negotiating and settling statutory claims. 

Ardent is also regularly instructed on capital schemes such as the replacement or renewal of existing infrastructure. 

One example of this is Ardent’s appointment on the South East Central Sewer – a scheme between Chepstow and Newport which is around 30km of existing sewer that needs replacement. 

This is the largest Welsh Water project in terms of length and budget and has been outsourced to Ardent since 2023 because of its capability and resource to deliver on the scheme. 

Ardent is handling all of the land referencing for the scheme, identifying all interested parties, arranging access for non-intrusive surveys and ground investigation work to prove a route. 

The team is responsible for serving notices, dealing with landowners, and settling any compensation claims at the end of the process.  

To date, all land has been referenced, the team is finalising land entry for non-intrusive surveys, with intrusive surveys likely to take place towards the end of 2025 or early 2026 when there is more certainty on a route corridor. Notice-serving for pipelines is expected in 2026. 

Another significant project is the Cwm Taf Water Supply Strategy where Welsh Water is replacing two outdated water treatment works in South Wales that supply the Cardiff area in one of its largest capital schemes. 

Ardent was appointed in August 2022, with a statutory consultation due in October 2025 followed by a planning application for the new water treatment works in January 2026. 

The new works require purchasing around 50 acres of land, plus land required to discharge biodiversity requirements – which will need to either be acquired or have access rights.  

Welsh Water has compulsory powers, but in this case, Ardent has assisted with negotiating voluntary agreements to avoid compulsory purchase. 

The statutory consultation will see several hundred owners and occupiers of land notified, with a smaller number directly affected by the pipelaying scheme, which would require easement rights. 

Beyond that, Ardent has also provided ad-hoc strategic evaluation advice where Welsh Water is either purchasing or selling land, providing market valuations and offering negotiation advice on voluntary deals to avoid compulsory purchase orders where possible. 

Furthermore, Ardent has been asked to advise on acquisitions for extensions to treatment works or pumping stations and undertake engagement with landowners as part of the process. 

 

Benefits: The work with Welsh Water is a further indicator of the importance of the role Ardent plays in the wider economy and society. 

In this case, it is helping to maintain or replace infrastructure that is absolutely vital in providing fresh drinking water to Wales and some parts of England, as well as helping to upgrade wastewater services. 

 

Next steps: Each project is at a different stage and means there are ‘peaks and troughs’ in the work that Ardent is required to undertake on behalf of Welsh Water. 

But it is clear from the breadth and scale of instructions that the company has become an integral part of the team when it comes to land services.