Representation by Andrew Roger Martin
- Date submitted
- 14 June 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
CWWTPR Introduction As a resident of Horningsea I was horrified to hear that the sewage plant could be moved to Honey Hill. Not only will this affect my family it will also affect:- The Village: Cambridge: United Kingdom: Green Belt: Wicken Fen Vision: Cambridge Nature Network: Global Warming As the UK is one of the most depleted biodiverse countries in the world we should think twice when planning to pour 1,000,000 tons of concrete on a Green Belt site. To show that this is a very poor decision I will compare the cause with effect. That is Honey Hill compared to the site of the existing Waste Water plant. The sites as they currently exist Honey Hill Honey Hill is a site used for arable farming. Honey Hill is in the Cambridge Green Belt. Honey Hill is identified as part of the Wicken Fen Vision, a one hundred year project to increase diversity into Cambridgeshire by gradually purchasing land and changing its use to more environmental purposes. As part of the Vision Honey Hill should be the link with the Cambridge urban area. Honey Hill is within the bounds of the Cambridge Nature Network. All of this environmental work will be compromised by the building an industrial complex on the site. The Core Site (existing plant) A fully functioning waste water plant that has been recently upgraded in a business park area next to the A14 and the railway line. The site has sufficient size to be upgraded in the future as the need arises. The site is not next to residential properties and is virtually invisible to residents of Cambridge. How things will change Honey Hill Honey Hill as the name suggests is a slightly raised piece of land within a flat fenland area. Although the site is only 97 hectares the visual impact on surrounding land will be for thousands of hectares. Mitigation will hide some of the impact but not all. Honey Hill is less than one kilometre from a primary school. If the wind is in the wrong direction the children’s health will be put at risk. Children travel from Horningsea on the cycle path. For the period of the construction this will be a danger for them. The environmental projects listed above will be seriously compromised. The Core Site (existing plant) Brown Field Site This site is classified as a brownfield site. The purpose of using a brown field site is to avoid building on the Green Belt. However the result of building here is to build an industrial complex on the Green Belt at Honey Hill. By simple logic this invalidates this site as a brown field site. Low Carbon Development The building of housing in the North East Cambridge development is said to be sustainable and low carbon. Of the 5000 residences less than one fifth are planned to have car parking facilities. Is the method by which you define it as low carbon? The question is how will the people without cars get their shopping as there will be no major supermarket on site? Will it be delivered by one of the local supermarkets and how will people living on the 10th floor access this delivery? There will also need to be many hundreds of courier deliveries to the site. Density of Development High density due to dumping of housing requirements by councils. Due to the high density of the development the height of many of the buildings are planned to be 10 storeys. This is not the style of Cambridge where the maximum height is generally 5 storeys. As can be seen by the new building next to Cambridge North Station this can be viewed from the surrounding areas such as Ditton Meadows by the River Cam as an oppressive wall of buildings standing out in a flat landscape. And this building is only 7 storeys! Due to the high density of the site it has been stated that the housing will consist of 88% one or two bedroom flats. This is an unbalanced demography. This use of flats will cause a transitory population of mainly rented properties. Open Space The North East Cambridge development does not have the required open space for the population. There is a ridiculous plan to build a tunnel under the A14 to connect it to Milton Country Park. On a weekend this tiny park is already full. Primary schools are planned for the site but the children will not have any outdoor space in which to play. Lack of Facilities There will be no playing fields or swimming pools on the site. There will be no entertainment venues. There will be no large supermarket so residents will have to go to Milton or Cambridge for their main shopping. Carbon Emissions Reference Application Document Reference 7.5.2 Strategic Carbon Assessment This is a disgraceful document. “The counterfactual emits 40% more carbon than the proposed development” is Anglian Water’s biased opinion based on very their admitted uncertain methodology. Removing a fully functional plant, decommissioning the plant and rebuilding the plant in another location over a four year process is obviously a highly carbon emitting process. Anglian Water have been trying to divorce the new plant, which they say is low carbon from the process to relocate it. In this document they are admitting that it will be carbon intensive but are trying to show that the alternative counterfactual scenario will be just as bad. So they are saying that the relocation will be bad but all other options will be bad as well. Not very ethical behaviours from a company claiming to have green credentials. It must be said that the greenest waste water plant is the one that already exists. Green Belt Reference Application Document Reference 7.5.3 Green Belt Assessment 6.1.6 “Overall the development would diminish the moderate contribution the WWTP Parcel currently makes…” This is your opinion but not fact. It is not shared by those opposing the project. Morality Is it right that a private company Anglian Water has the right to decide to build on Green Belt at Honey Hill? This is an area that has never been defined as an location for development by any local plan. No democratically elected councillor or MP ever made this decision. However a private company Anglian Water which is only answerable to its shareholders can make this decision unilaterally. Conclusion We are starting with Honey Hill as pristine Green Belt and The Core Site as a fully functioning waste water plant and we are ending up with several environmental plans compromised by the building of an industrial site at Honey Hill. At the Core Site there will be an atypical dense housing development that will not be suitable for Cambridge. The village of Horningsea will be ruined for ever by the fact that the Green Belt at Honey Hill will no longer differentiate the urban Cambridge from the rural Cambridgeshire which is the purpose of the Green Belt. An industrial site at Honey Hill will destroy the character of Cambridge’s necklace villages for ever. The Waste Water plant should be relocated to another site or left where it currently exists. So in conclusion If the future of Cambridge is money and growth then go ahead and slash and burn. Otherwise let’s support the Wicken Fen Vision, the Green Belt which is preventing urban sprawl, the integrity of the surrounding conservation areas at the River Cam, Horningsea and Fen Ditton, preventing a gigantic carbon cost by relocating the plant, protect the beauty of Cambridge. Let’s save Honey Hill. Planning Inspectorate and Secretary of State – Your Choice Your Conscience