Representation by Ian Watt
- Date submitted
- 4 July 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Dear Sir/Madam, I wish to take this opportunity to express my objection to the proposal to move the sewage works to Honey Hill. First and foremost there is no operational need for this move to be made. The current sewage works recently underwent work to ensure that they are fit for service and of adequate capacity for the period until 2050. The proposed facility at Honey Hill would offer no improvement in capacity or lifespan over the current facility. The proposal to move is being made solely to ensure the land owners for the current site are able to sell the land to developers for what will be enormous sums of money. It is reprehensible that to facilitate this, a private water company is being given £227m of taxpayer’s money to build an unnecessary sewage works on a Green Belt site, contrary to national and local planning policy. This will have a significant impact on multiple sites of special scientific interest including Quy Fen, Wicken Fen and Cambridgeshire Dykes. Such a building project can only have a negative impact on the wildlife and biodiversity of the area. Building on Honey Hill also threatens to damage a Principle Chalk Aquifer, which still supplies some local homes with drinking water directly from wells. A high risk of groundwater contamination has been been predicted by DEFRA, as well as the unsuitability of this terrain for building large infrastructure of this kind. There appears to have been no consideration of the impact on the villages of Fen Ditton and Horningsea for the years of construction traffic, as well as ongoing operational traffic. The costings for the proposed relocation works in the documents provided by the applicants make no mention of clean up costs for the current site and there is no appreciation of the high carbon footprint of either the clean up of the current site or the high use of concrete for the construction of the proposed relocated works which will in no way be offset by the creation of energy efficient housing on the current sewage works site. Honey Hill is also in very close proximity to Fen Ditton Primary School and building a sewage works there is extremely likely to have a profound effect on the education of the pupils there with noise of construction, odour once operational and the impact of traffic for residents of Horningsea getting to and from school. With no obvious operational need for this relocation and multiple reasons to not proceed with this proposal when considering costs from a financial, environmental, wildlife and quality of life point of view, there can be no justifiable reason for proceeding with these works other than greed on behalf of the land owners for the current sewage works site. I trust you will act accordingly when faced with these facts. Yours faithfully, Ian Watt