Representation by Chris Pim
- Date submitted
- 23 June 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I strongly object to the relocation of the sewage works to the Honey Hill site (and in general), with the main reasons being as follows: 1) It seems unacceptable during such a time of governmental financial conditions that it is being considered, to pay a private company more than £220 million of taxpayers money to move a perfectly good treatment plant. I understand the plant was worked on in 2014 or 2015 to be meet requirements until 2050, so there is no need to perform this work for operational reasons. 2) The reasoning for facilitating the construction of new homes is hard to understand, surely the £220 million would be better spent on supporting the building of new houses in another possible location. The impact and loss of green belt land is unacceptable as well as the proximity to Quy Fen a site of special scientific interest. This is a great concern as well as for other important natural and historic features in the area. 3) DEFRA's own map data clearly show the area as being highly vulnerable to pollutant discharge. How can it be argued that this is a suitable location for a water treatment site? We have to accept that accidents can and will happen but already having all the data to see this is a bad idea, this means any incidents in the future would clearly have been preventable through reconsideration of the location of the plant. 4) Climate impact; it is clear with every new data point released that we are currently in a state of climate emergency. The impact of such a large evidently unnecessary construction project should seriously be considered. 5) There is also a more general concern for the construction impact on the local infrastructure, of course sometimes this is justifiable and is recognised as temporary, however for what is clearly an unneeded project, this should still be taken into account. 6) There is currently significant residential development to the east of Cambridge, some of these new residents may be impacted if there are any odour incidents from the new plant. As the current treatment plant is established and the impact on the local areas is understood and accepted, this is an additional unknown impact that should be considered in the decision.