Representation by Helen Jane Warnock
- Date submitted
- 4 July 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I object to the moving of the Sewage Works to Honey Hill. The CWWTP does not need to move on operational grounds. In 2015 the present works was upgraded to meet the needs of the expansion of Cambridge until 2065. To move this expensively improved plant from a Brown Field site to Green Belt land to build more houses is questionable. Decommissioning and decontamination of the existing site would be a very costly business both financially and with respect to carbon emissions not taken account of in Anglia Waters information. In June 2023 the Environment Agency objected to the increase in housing in Cambridgeshire on the grounds that supplying water to these homes would pose a significant risk to the local water supply and would also bring about harm to the environment. “There is compelling evidence that there is not enough water in our region to supply the proposed developments,” said South Cambridgeshire MP, Anthony Browne ( June 2023 ) Public Consultation took place during COVID. It was unsatisfactory. They were no public meetings, no discussion was possible. Zoom webinars were chaired by Anglia Water. Questions were submitted by the public, but Anglia Water selected which questions they wanted to answer. Many of the questions submitted were not answered. The way the webinars were conducted meant that no discussion between the Public and the Panel was possible and there was no opportunity to question the responses of the Panel. Consultation as to whether the CWWTP should move from its present site, using an internet questionnaire, showed that 53% of the respondents wanted CWWTP to stay where it was. Site Selection. In a previous comparison of relocation sites, Honey Hill was discarded, deemed unsuitable. The site is still unsuitable. Honey Hill sits on top of an important aquifer supplying water to Cambridge and its surroundings. It is not possible to guarantee that there will be no ground water contamination from pipes leading to and from the Plant. Any contamination of this aquifer would be catastrophic. Building such a Plant in a Fenland landscape is inappropriate aesthetically. Because of the underlying geology the digester towers cannot be sunk into the ground as they are at the present site. The appearance of 21 metre towers soaring into this open landscape is an eyesore. They cannot be effectively screened unlike at the present site where these towers are sunk into the ground and the whole site is well disguised and screened. Building at Honey Hill will adversely affect the setting of the historic City of Cambridge when approaching from the east. The Plant would dominate and harm this rural landscape, which is much enjoyed by the people of Cambridge and the surrounding villages and it would intrude on the conservation villages of Fen Ditton and Horningsea. Honey Hill is at the southern edge of the proposed extension of the Wicken Fen Vision. This is a most important Fenland area , home to over 9000 species - a very precious and unique vision which would be compromised by the building of an industrial site like CWWTP.