Representation by John Sandey
- Date submitted
- 7 July 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
My objection to the relocation of the sewage works to Honey Hill I have decided to lodge an objection to the construction of a sewage works at Honey Hill. I have set out below the main reasons which informed my decision. 1 There is no operational need for the relocation of the sewage works. Cambridge City Council and Anglian Water have both acknowledged that there is no need to move the sewage works. It is fully operational, fit for purpose and will remain so for many years going forward. 2 The permanent loss of green belt land and environmental damage at Honey Hill. If the sewage works were to be located at Honey Hill it would impact upon the nature of the area in terms of recreation, wildlife and scenic beauty. It is an undeniable truth that if the sewage works were to be built at Honey Hill its nature would be lost for ever. Relatively close to Honey Hill are Wicken Fen and Quy Fen which are important sites for wildlife and could be negatively affected by any sewage works at Honey Hill. Why take the risk of harming them if there is no operational need to relocate the sewage works to Honey Hill? There has been little comment with regard to the possibility of corrupting underground water at Honey Hill which is a cause for concern raised by independent analysts. 3 The Climate Change Impact of the relocation. Cambridge City Council have declared their commitment to wherever possible cut down on CO2 emissions and by 2030 to achieve net zero for Cambridge. The relocation and construction of the new sewage works would lead to a significant rise in CO2 emissions. Given that there is no operational need to relocate the works, keeping it in situ would not increase CO2 emissions. 4 The impact of traffic to and from and around Honey Hill. The construction of the new sewage works would involve a considerable increase in traffic on the roads around Honey Hill. Of greater significance, once constructed, there would be a great number of large lorries moving into and out of the sewage works on a routine daily schedule. Neither Cambridge City Council nor Anglian Water have made a proper assessment of the impact that this would have in and around Horningsea, Fen Ditton and Stow Cum Quy. In Conclusion. The move of the sewage works was decided to enable a housing development to be built on the vacated brownfield site. Although this may be the easiest path for the council to go down, to make it easier to build more houses, that does not necessarily make it the best path. Sometimes the more difficult route will be the correct one to follow.