At a Glance
- Bedford approved 1,100 homes despite Anglian Water’s pollution warning.
- Anglian Water states that about 10,000 new homes would require a new water recycling centre.
- Southend, Rochford, Rayleigh, Hadleigh, and Castle Point combined have targets of 51,000 new homes.
- Concerns raised about long-term underinvestment and councils ignoring infrastructure limits.
Sometimes, a crystal ball isn’t necessary to see what the future has in store. Take, for example, the town of Bedford in the county of Bedfordshire, population 106,940. Recently, plans for 1,100 homes were approved by Bedford Borough Council’s planning committee.
Anglian Water had warned of pollution to local watercourses unless occupation of the proposed houses was delayed until an upgrade of Bedford Water Recycling Centre was completed.
Anglian Water explained that the local water treatment works were already exceeding their permitted flow limits, and that allowing an increase would create an “unacceptable risk of pollution” to local watercourses.
Warnings Ignored, Risks Rising
Bedford Borough Council has chosen to disregard Anglian Water’s warning and granted permission to the developers to begin construction. Once the project is completed and all 1,100 homes are connected to the sewage network, we will see what happens when infrastructure, already creaking under the strain of underinvestment exceeds its capacity.
Last week, after many requests, Anglian Water finally provided Southend Against Sewage with a statement concerning the current sewage network capacity and an overview of Anglian Water’s role within the planning process. One of the most important passages discussed current capabilities:
“…this issue is something Anglian Water is actively managing. The number of homes across the region has increased significantly. If somewhere in the region of 10,000 homes was built, there would have to be a new water recycling centre.”
Of course, 10,000 new houses being built in and around Southend sounds like a lot; but it’s not just Southend that is serviced by Anglian Water’s water recycling centre. Rochford, Hadleigh, parts of Rayleigh, and Castle Point are located within this catchment. Government housing targets within this combined area currently stand at around 51,000 new homes, with 24,000 in Southend alone.
No Joined-Up Thinking
To make matters more chaotic, each council has been pursuing a building agenda without reference to its neighbours. They simply have not considered the wider ramifications of the decisions reached or the impact of development within the wider context. If this continues, we will quickly exceed Anglian Water’s warning of 10,000 homes.
Decades of Neglect Exposed
Let’s not forget we’re in this mess because of decades of underinvestment by Anglian Water, who put the generosity of dividends before infrastructure requirements. It’s partly the fault of our council too, for not safeguarding residents and anticipating future demands. However, if Southend City Council decides to override Anglian Water’s advice and the situation unravels, we have Bedford’s example, our crystal ball, to see what comes next.
by Shah & Alex Haider
On behalf of Southend Against Sewage
southendagainstsewage.org