Protect the Green Belt
The Planning Inspectorate (PINS) have updated the DCO application page to say that you will be able to register to become an Interested Party from Wednesday 14 June 2023.
You need to register to be able to object.
We are currently reviewing the many documents that form part of Anglian Water’s DCO application and will keep updating our page on “How to Object” as we understand more.
We are proud to announce that the Crap Community Choir has just released its new protest song, “Honey Hill, Honey”!
The choir was formed last year in support of the Save Honey Hill campaign, to stop the proposed relocation of the Cambridge Sewage works to Cambridge Greenbelt between the villages of Fen Ditton and Horningsea.
The song’s release coincides with the Planning Inspectorate‘s acceptance of Anglian Water’s DCO application to relocate the sewage works. Please visit “How to Object” to find out how you can have your say.
If you would like to hear more from the Crap Community Choir, here’s their first song: It’s Crap,
Enjoy!
The Planning Inspectorate (PINS) has just accepted (24th May 2023) Anglian Water’s Application to relocate the sewage works for Examination and published the application documents .
The Save Honey Hill Strategy Team will review the 220 documents and put together our objections to put to the Planning Inspectors. As we understand more we will also update our Tips on how to Object page. This will allow you to also object.
For now we strongly encourage you to sign up for updates with the Planning Inspectorate. They will then send you an email when you are able to register and make an objection. (Relevant Representation). They will also email you when the Preliminary Meeting will be held.
We were very graciously invited onto the Chris Mann show and interviewed by Louise Hulland about the Planning Inspector’s report into Anglian Water’s DCO application and its failings.
The interview was on Thursday 18th May at 17:10 (the show is from 14:00-18:00)
Listen below. The interview is at 3:10 to 3:14
“Anglian Water told to explore Honey Hill alternatives”
Cambridge Independent
Cambridge Independent: Anglian Water told to consider alternatives to Cambridge sewage works move
Since resubmitting its application to the Planning Inspectorate at the end of April, further evidence has surfaced of the sloppy and unprofessional standards that Anglian Water continue to display not only when it comes to the many instances of pumping sewage in to our rivers and seas, but now also in the matter of its project to relocate the Cambridge Waste Water Treatment plant (CWWTPR) from its existing site at Cowley Road, Milton, less than a mile to the outskirts of Cambridge on Green Belt countryside between the villages of Horningsea, Fen Ditton and Quy.
The Planning Inspectorate also told Anglian Water that they had not considered the option of not moving the sewage works in the first place. They are not telling them to consider other sites, they are questioning the need to move in the first place!
Save Honey Hill
Within days of the resubmission, the Planning Inspectorate published its Advice Notes which were lengthy and damning in equal measure and made it abundantly clear why Anglian Water had been advised to withdraw its application first time round1
The application does not consider whether an upgraded plant on the existing site could address waste water treatment needs. The Applicant is advised to consider whether this potential alternative approach should be considered in the application and EIA.
Planning Inspectorate1
Incredibly, the Planning Inspectorate found 118 issues within the application documents, too many to list here, but ranging from instances of missing pages, text and references to significant failures to prove justification or need for the move which are sufficient to outweigh the adverse environmental impacts. It is worth bearing in mind that this is the first case in England, possibly in the UK, of an application for a piece of major infrastructure where the fully functioning infrastructure already exists.
All this gives further fuel to the belief that Anglian Water is incapable of delivering on this project on time, within budget and to a standard that Cambridge deserves but more importantly, that this application should be refused and a thorough, immediate and long term upgrade of the existing site should be undertaken, an option that was never given due consideration in the early stages of the consultation process.
UPDATE: 2nd May 2023 Anglian Water have resubmitted their application.
Following Anglian Water’s Development Consent Order (DCO) application submission to the Planning Inspectorate, and the subsequent withdrawal, members of Save Honey Hill’s Strategy Team have been working with our barristers to prepare our response to Anglian Water’s resubmission of its application to the Planning Inspectorate.
Thanks to the generosity of donors and three Parish Councils, a KC and her junior have advised on the main areas for objection. Despite not knowing the detail of Anglian Water’s application, we have been drafting Representations which we will update, again with advice from the barristers, if and when the Planning Inspectorate accepts the application at which time the final documents will be published. We understand from Anglian Water that there will be approximately 200 associated documents and about 100 of those will contain new information. So, there will continue to be a lot of work to do in responding to the application. Each team member is focusing on specific areas of objection which include:
Other issues include design, impact on the historic setting of Cambridge and the local conservation areas, odour mitigation, access and traffic management.
Save Honey Hill has made these objections clear in previous consultations and by setting them out in our Representations we want to be recognised by the Planning Inspectorate as a key Interested Party and thus have the opportunity to be present at hearings.
Dear Margaret
Many thanks for replying to our Phase Three Consultation, please find attached a copy of our reply to your consultation response.
Please also find attached a link to the Consultation Summary Report for your information. As you are aware, we submitted the DCO application on 31 January 2023 to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) for acceptance. We have since had constructive early discussions with PINS, and as a result we’ve asked them to pause the processing of our application while we provide them with some further information.
This is not entirely unusual with an application of this complexity, and we intend to provide the information within a matter of weeks. We don’t believe it will have any impact on the overall timescales for the project.
Kind regards
Karen Barclay
Head of Major Infrastructure Planning & Stakeholder Engagement
Anglian Water Services Limited
Save Honey Hill campaigners are primed and ready for action now that Anglian Water has submitted its application to shift its sewage works at Cowley Road less than a mile to Green Belt agricultural land between Horningsea and Fen Ditton (Honey Hill).
The application has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate despite Anglian Water stating many times that there is no operational need for it to move. With the support of Cambridge City Council, Anglian Water applied to the Housing Infrastructure Fund and was awarded £227 million of taxpayers’ money, thereby funding a private company’s brand new plant without it having to go to its shareholders for a penny.
Save Honey Hill campaigners, who continue to be encouraged by the legal advice and direction they receive thanks to the generous donations of supporters, are currently preparing their responses even though they will have to wait to see the application in its entirety if and when the Planning Inspectorate accepts it within the next 28 days.
A Save Honey Hill representative says, “We have been preparing for this moment for the last three years and if this application is accepted by the Planning Inspector, we will be ready. Our commitment to fight this project and protect the precious, vulnerable countryside around Cambridge, its ‘green lung’, has not waned. The proposed site at Honey Hill is valuable agricultural land which currently makes a contribution to our country’s food security.”
“The virulent expansion of Cambridge is seemingly going unchecked with little consideration given to the huge carbon cost of moving a major part of infrastructure such a short distance and with no operational gain
Save Honey Hill
“The virulent expansion of Cambridge is seemingly going unchecked with little consideration given to the huge carbon cost of moving a major part of infrastructure such a short distance and with no operational gain. We believe this project flies in the face of national planning policy and is a gross misuse of public money at a time of great economical fragility for our country.”
“Of course our villages don’t want this building project to go ahead with the associated impact on our communities of four years worth of construction traffic and other associated side effects. But we could accept it a whole lot better if we were getting something that was an improvement on what Cambridge already has. The site at Honey Hill is such a sensitive one in terms of setting and proximity to conservation areas and sites of significance, both scientific and historical. It will be there for all to see from all directions and yet the design of the plant is underwhelming to say the least. If this move really is as necessary as we are led to believe then why isn’t Cambridge being given cutting edge, state of the art and something to be proud of?”
If this move really is as necessary as we are led to believe then why isn’t Cambridge being given cutting edge, state of the art and something to be proud of?”
Save Honey Hill
In response to Anglian Water’s claims that the new ‘flagship’ waste water treatment plant will enable it to continue to provide vital waste water services to customers across Cambridge and the surrounding area that will be resilient and adaptable for future growth, Save Honey Hill say that the fact is capacity at the existing plant already allows for this – the site was ‘future-proofed’ less than 10 years ago at a cost of £21 million and has the room it needs to expand if necessary.
The Planning Inspectorate now has 28 days to decide if it will accept the application for examination at which time the submission documents will be published and anyone will be able to register an interest to comment on the application at https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/eastern/cambridge-waste- water-treatment-plant-relocation/
Save Honey Hill is a community group formed to reject the proposal to relocate Cambridge’s sewage treatment works from Cowley Road, Milton to Honey Hill, valuable agricultural land in Green Belt between the villages of Horningsea and Fen Ditton. Save Honey Hill objectors are against the relocation of the plant in principle. However, they also insist that if it is to be sited at Honey Hill the impact on neighbouring communities should be absolutely minimised.
Cambridge Waste Water Relocation Project (CWWTPR) is Anglian Water’s proposal to relocate Cambridge’s fully-functioning sewage works to Cambridge Green Belt just between the villages of Horningsea and Fen Ditton. With the support of Cambridge City Council, Anglian Water applied for £227 million from the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) to pay for the relocation, the sole aim being to develop the vacated brownfield site for housing and commercial space as part of the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan (NECAAP).
Save Honey Hill, 2 February 2023
The Save Honey Hill group
We have been working and fund-raising for nearly three years and now we have a date! Anglian Water has indicated that their Application to relocate the sewage works will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate on 30 January 2023.
It is not exactly a wonderful New Year’s present, but we are determined to put forward the best possible case to object to the proposal. The Planning Inspector (PI) has 28 days to review the application and decide whether to accept it for examination. He or she will publish the timetable and how to register to become an Interested Party to make a Relevant Representation (that’s the way we can state our case). The process is likely to start in March.
Thank you for the amazing support you have given us which has made it possible to get legal advice so far and more advice on our Representations once the documents are published.
You can see more about the process of a Development Consent Order (DCO) on the National Infrastructure website and we will keep you updated on our blog. We also aim to hold a General Meeting early in the year but in the meantime contact us through info@savehoneyhill.org if you have any questions.
All good wishes for Christmas and 2023.
The Save Honey Hill Cookbook, full of some fantastic recipes from villagers and friends, is now on sale. The price is now £10 for one copy. Orders are very welcome and we can deliver. All profits to the Save Honey Hill campaign, against the relocation of the Cambridge Sewage works to Honey Hill, between Horningsea, Fen Ditton and Quy.
We still have calendars for sale at £10 each too.
For either please contact SHH. An ideal stocking filler for any of your friends or family!