Back to list Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant Relocation

Representation by The Griffith Family (The Griffith Family)

Date submitted
19 July 2023
Submitted by
Members of the public/businesses
  1. The main reason I object is that the CWWTP does not need to move. The data collected by SHH showed that the majority of people who had completed the consultation survey saw no reason for it to be moved. This was not reflected in Anglia Water’s results. 2. The CWWTP was future proofed in 2015 for up to 50 years. Even if some of it does need improving, nothing like £227K will need to be spent. In these very constrained times, this might help our Government continue with other more necessary projects. 3. Even the Project Manager of this proposed move has said that there is no operational reason to move it. 4. Building this monstrosity in the Green Belt, taking fairly valuable agricultural land is sacrilege. Building next to two Conservation villages is not acceptable. 5. The huge vision of such a large industrial plant as you approach our Historical City from the East will be such an ugly sight. Instead of Fen Ditton and Horningsea, beautiful villages on the River Cam, it will be those two villages with the Sewage works! 6. If it is built in this place, it will be built on Cambridge’s main chalk aquifer. We have been assured that there will be no leaks. How can Anglian Water say this??? Cambridge is already having to bring water in, to cope with the massive overdevelopment of the city. Because of the aquifer the huge intrusive digesters etc cannot be sunk into the ground like other modern Sewage Works are. 7. The carbon cost of destroying the current Works and rebuilding will be huge. We are always asked to reduce our Carbon footprint. This is unnecessary . The proposal to build housing and offices where the present Waste Water Treatment plant is currently claims that it will be a zero carbon development. This cannot be true if all of the current plant has to be destroyed, a new one built and of course the land cleaned up to use as building land. 8. To move all these structures and to rebuild them, there will be a huge amount of construction traffic impacting on all of our lives. Afterwards, the large amount of sludge lorries will be continuous. 9. The current site often gives off an odour. We were assured 8 years ago that this had been remedied, it has not. Will the residents of our two villages and the children at the school, which is extremely close to the proposed site, have to put up with this foul odour? 10. There was a National Trust Vision. A green corridor to Wicken Fen for the people on the Eastern, the more deprived side of Cambridge. This will have this monstrosity standing proud from the Fenland. Not a good way to start a vision! 11. During Covid, we learnt how important it was for our Mental Health to have green space to escape. Will local people really want to walk, cycle and ride horses in the net work of paths past CWWTP??