Tag: cwwtpr

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Update on Sewage works proposed relocation – Development Consent Order

The Planning Inspectors

Dear Members and Friends of Honey Hill,

Save Honey Hill’s Strategy team worked hard behind the scenes to prepare for and participate in Anglian Water’s Application DCO Preliminary Meeting and Hearings in October1.

Since then, it has continued that hard work, together with our barrister, to draft our Written Representation to send to the Planning Inspectorate on 20th November. 

Despite the many hours that have gone into this, we have taken some comfort and hope from the Planning Inspectors’ forensic questioning of Anglian Water and local council representatives at the Preliminary Meeting and Hearings. 

We feel the Inspectors are really delving into the stated reasons for the proposed relocation and have a good understanding of our concerns and those of other groups such as Friends of the Cam, Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) and the Parish Councils.

The following links will take you to all the videos of the hearings made available to the public on the Planning Inspectorate’s website (also available on YouTube).  You will see our barrister in action together with Ian Gilder, our retired Planning Consultant who, like all members of Save Honey Hill, gives his time pro bono:

Preliminary meeting

Open floor hearing 17 October 2023

Issue specific hearing one: first session

Issue specific hearing one: Second session

Issue specific hearing two

As soon as we have submitted our Written Representations, we will begin preparations for the next stage: a deadline on 6 December by which time we, and Anglian Water, may need to respond to questions from the Inspectors.

After that, Anglian Water will be required to comment on all the Written Representations by 18th December and following a short break for Christmas, the next Issue Specific hearing will take place some time in the second week of January 2024.

The Examination then progresses through more hearings and more deadlines until April ‘24 after which time the Planning Inspectors will make their recommendation to the Secretary of State DEFRA.

As you will see from the videos, this is a complex and lengthy Examination and it has been a challenge to estimate the funds we have needed for legal advice. Similarly, it is proving difficult to estimate how much more we might need to maintain the momentum. We are grateful for all your support and if you are able to make a donation, however small, it will help us to continue with the best possible legal expertise.

Having campaigned for more than three years, we are not going to give up now and even if funding for more legal help is not possible, we will fight to the end with the resources we have.

Details of how you and your friends can donate are here on our website:

https://www.savehoneyhill.org/fundraising/

Kind regards

Margaret Starkie, Chair, Save Honey Hill Group

  1. Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant Relocation [↩]
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June 3rd Town and U+I – wolves in sheep’s clothing at Strawberry Fair

It would appear that the core site at NECAAP has undergone a rebranding.  Town and U+I had a stall at Strawberry Fair today where they were proudly showcasing the plans for ‘Hartree’.

Here are some of the visuals on display:

For me what really stuck in the gullet was the one titled ‘A Day at Hartree’ which looks at possible future resident profiles.  It talks about key workers alongside couples who have moved from London alongside ‘global citizens’ from other countries.  I wonder if key workers really will be able to afford these apartments, and if it is attracting couples from London and further afield, how can the development be addressing the housing shortage that locals are experiencing.

I spoke to one of the people manning the stall who said that the sewage works relocation and Hartree are two completely separate projects while in the same breath saying that without the sewage works moving the development wouldn’t be able to go ahead.  He refused to accept they are linked and we had to agree to disagree in the end but it was all relatively good humoured debate. 

I also pointed out that they were stretching it to describe the development as good for the planet, “an exemplar for development fit for the challenges for the 21st Century, enabling sustainable lifestyles, enhancing nature and accelerating the transition to a net zero carbon world.”  I pointed out that they were being, at best, disingenuous and that in no way can this development be described as exemplary development fit for the blah! blah! if it depends on moving a fully functioning sewage works (one that was ‘future-proofed’ a few years back to the tune of over £20m) to Green Belt, arable farmland and pouring millions of tonnes of concrete onto a principal chalk aquifer into the bargain.

Anyways, if you have the opportunity to put anyone straight on the development and what the consequences are, I hope some of this helps with your argument.

Catherine Morris

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Letter to the Cambridge Independent in response to the Planning Inspectorate’s Advice Notes to Anglian Water.

18th May 2023

Dear Reader

In response to this paper’s article dated Wednesday, 17th May 2023, which sheds a glaring spotlight on Anglian Water’s sloppy planning application to relocate its wastewater treatment plant at Cowley Road to Honey Hill, the Save Honey Hill team would like to thank the Cambridge Independent and, in particular, Alex Spencer, for bringing this to the public’s attention.

The article made for stark reading when you consider the consequences of this huge nationally significant infrastructure project and the equally huge £227 million that Anglian Water has been allocated to pay for the relocation.

This project is about a billion-pound private water company profiteering from a move that will release land that can then be called brownfield and sold off to developers for a huge sum that its shareholders will pocket whilst the taxpayer foots the bill for the move.

The Save Honey Hill campaign has long held the opinion that due diligence has not been given to the environmental impact of said move nor to the option of the sewage plant staying where it is and, if necessary, simply being upgraded. According to the Advice Notes published by the Planning Inspectorate, the planning inspectors clearly agree.  It is the validation that we are very happy to receive, but we are not so naïve as to think the story ends there.

We will continue to press home, at every opportunity, the many wrongs of this aspiration held by Anglian Water, Cambridge City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council and undoubtedly the university colleges who own some of the land adjacent to the Cowley Road site.

We will also continue to press home that NECAAP (North East Cambridge Area Action Plan) is not in fact sustainable because in the Local Plan there is no mention of requiring the sewage plant to move to open, arable farmland in Green Belt near Horningsea, Fen Ditton and Quy, and no mention of the associated carbon cost of doing so.  This is plainly wrong and not what the people of Cambridge and the surrounding area deserve. It is a greenwashing exercise of the highest order compounded by the fact that as the Planning Inspectorate has pointed out in its Advice Notes, “…given the focus in the application document on providing a carbon efficient wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), consideration should be given to the inclusion of a comparative assessment for reasonable alternatives, including the ‘do-nothing’ option or the provision of the upgrade at the existing WWTP. Without these the environmental benefits of the proposed development are unclear.”

Your readers are also invited to consider that producing these Development Consent Order (DCO) application documents in the first place will have made a sizeable dent in the taxpayer-funded budget Anglian Water is working to. To have ignored the PI’s initial advice that its Environmental Impact Assessment report should include the demolition of the site and to omit it from its DCO application, shows a level of either arrogance or amateurism that is incredibly disturbing when this company is being tasked with building a massive new piece of infrastructure.

But then is this such a surprise?

Anglian Water is one of a number of water companies in the UK which is regularly fined for not doing its job properly. Its business (excuse the pun) is to treat and deal with our sewage in a safe and responsible way. Time and time again we see the evidence all around our coastline and in our rivers that it is not capable of providing that fundamental service and I can only draw the same conclusion when it comes to this relocation project. It doesn’t need to relocate because the one that exists is fully functioning and has capacity (by AW’s admission); the carbon cost of the project which is as yet unknown will be massive not least because of the shedloads of concrete needed to protect the Principal Chalk Aquifer (groundwater) at Honey Hill, that construction will need to provide!

We urge everyone to visit www.savehoneyhill.org and follow instructions on how to object to this Development Consent Order application if the Planning Inspectorate accepts it at the end of this month. Anyone can have their say and this is most certainly NOT A DONE DEAL!

Catherine Morris

Save Honey Hill Campaigner and Horningsea Resident

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Cambridge Independent: Anglian Water told to consider alternatives to Cambridge sewage works move

“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.

https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/anglian-water-told-to-consider-alternatives-to-sewage-works-9313428/

  1. Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant Relocation Project – Advice on documentation following the withdrawal of the application 3 March 2023 [↩] [↩]
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..and the extra price of The Great Wall of North East Cambridge is the loss of Cambridge’s Green Belt…

Here’s a very relevant article by James Littlewood of Cambridge Past, Present Future (CPPF) on one of the massive buildings that are planned for North East Cambridge. The site for this building is just north of Cambridge North train station. But part of the planned development at North East Cambridge is of course land currently occupied by Cambridge’s waste water treatment plant (the core site).

Cambridge City Council and South Cambs District Council claim that North East Cambridge Action Plan can only really go ahead if the existing sewage works are demolished and relocated to Cambridge’s Green Belt. That is why the City and District Councils have postponed NECAAP consultation until after the Development Consent Order to relocate the sewage works has been decided. There are alternatives which would still help growth in that area.

Here’s CPPF’s response to the last consultation by Anglian Water on moving the plant

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DCO Application on hold as Anglian Water withdraw their application.

You may have heard that Anglian Water has withdrawn its Development Consent Order (DCO) application for the relocation of the Wastewater Treatment Plant yesterday (22nd Feb 2023). They have informed the Planning Inspectors that they will resubmit.

There were a few minutes of elation in the village of Horningsea and Fen Ditton before we realised that this is not at all unusual in DCO Projects.

The withdrawal is probably in response to some queries from National Infrastructure and we fully expect Anglian Water to resubmit within a few weeks. So this will result in a delay before the Examination begins.

Anglian Water submitted a letter about the withdrawal.

This makes no difference to Save Honey Hill plans to make Relevant Representations as an Interested Party and to object to the project.

If you have any queries please contact us.

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Estimated timetable for Anglian Water’s DCO application for the relocation of the Cambridge Sewage Works CWWTPR) to Greenbelt

Below are the likely dates of the DCO Application and Examinations programme. This timetable is Save Honey Hill’s estimation based on what Anglian Water and the Planning Inspectorate have said so far. However, the dates are entirely dependent on Anglian Water’s submission and on what the Planning Inspectorate does subsequently.

UPDATE 31st Jan 2023: Anglian Water have just put their application in. The hard work starts!

Update: 23rd Feb 2023: Anglian Water have withdrawn their application. We do not know why, but this is normal for DCO applications and we fully expect it to be resubmitted at some point. So the dates below are all incorrect.

Update: May 2, 2023 : Anglian Water have resubmitted their DCO application. The timetable starts afresh! The dates below will be updated when we learn more.

AW submits DCO application 31st January 2023
Application accepted by PINS and documents published early March 2023
Register as interested party and make relevant representation likely by end April 2023
Preliminary meeting and examination timetable published likely in June 2023
DCO timetable

Examination will include:

Written representation submission probably September 2023
Hearings (Open floor, issue specific and compulsory acquisition) probably October 2023 to December 2023
Site inspectionsprobably October 2023 to January 2024
Examination completedFebruary 2024
Examining authority report submitted July 2024
Examination timetable

The Secretary of State DEFRA then has six months in which to make a decision

Anglian Water is required to advertise that they have submitted the Application in local newspapers and the timetable is set be the Principal Inspector.

We will endeavour to keep this page updated if there are any significant changes to the timetable.

Please do register for our newsletter if you want to be updated.

Screenshot 2023 01 31 at 15 04 00

What you can do now

The main process will start when the Planning Inspectorate accepts the application (28 days after submission). However, you can sign up for updates now.

– Sign up for updates (now).

– Register as an Interested Party (once the application is accepted).

– Send in a Relevant Representation (once you are accepted as an Interested Party).

Full and clear constructions are on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.

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Anglian Water’s DCO application is imminent!

sunset over diggers.

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.