Last year in 2024, Southend City Council and Rochford Council teamed up with developer Bellway Homes to create a “New Towns Taskforce” to submit an “expression of interest” to the Government, to build on land off Bournes Green.
It had been reported by the Southend Echo newspaper earlier this year that, “a similar scheme was presented to Government by the chief executives of Southend, Rochford and Essex County Councils in 2018 under a Conservative administration.”
Bellway’s Early Involvement
With a little digging Southend Against Sewage found that Bellway Homes have been involved with the Bournes Green development since 2019. Bellway Homes had prepared a document in conjunction with estate agents Strutt & Parker and French bank BNP Paribas entitled Southend Local Plan Issues and Options Land at Bournes Green, Southend. (Download via https://rb.gy/iv0x6l)
The document explores three options for development. The document proposed that option three, the largest and most extensive development project, be accepted by the council. Of course, each option expands the number of homes with an acknowledged resulting pressure on roads, schools, and green spaces.
While school places are identified as requiring expansion, strangely, the Bellway Homes 2019 document rarely considers the increasing demands on the hard infrastructure, such as gas, electricity, water, sewage, and telecommunications. From the document Bellway seems to see the development process as being: they will build it, the council will provide the schools, and the utility companies connect the development to relevant infrastructure.
In 2019 when the report was produced, it might have been that simple, but in 2025 it’s becoming considerably more complex to connect to utility infrastructure. This is because increasingly large and complex housing developments are planned countywide, in ever shorter timescales, putting utilities under increasing stress. Our own Bournes Green development could begin in 2027 if given permission and take a couple of years to complete. This might not allow hard infrastructure utilities time to “catch up” with major changes in population and usage.
Bellway in the Headlines
A good example of this is when Bellway Homes made headlines in The National newspaper (6th November 2024) in Scotland, when they “denied claims made by a Scottish councillor that trucks full of sewage from a new housing estate are being emptied into a village’s main drains system”. Bellway Homes later confirmed that “connection to the waste network has been delayed due to external issues in connecting the system.”
Wider Problems
However, it is not just north of the border that such problems have arisen. In East Anglia, the Eastern Daily Press newspaper ran a story on 3rd July 2025 that, “Anglian Water wants to block people from moving into new build houses in parts of Norfolk until 2030 — because its treatment plants cannot cope with any more homes.” With developers and local councils earmarking East Anglia for major development, with a possible 750,000 new residents by 2040, it’s somewhat understandable to see why Anglian Water cannot cope.
52,000 Homes Planned
Here in Southend up to 52,000 new homes are planned. Southend’s current sewage treatment plants are almost at capacity. Anglian Water replied to our letter on 23rd September 2023 confirming an excess capacity of just over 7,000 people for the greater Southend catchment. So, with the planned 52,000 new homes within the catchment (Southend, Rochford, Canvey Island, Castle Point and parts of Rayleigh) either a massive extension to Stock Road would be required or a new sewage treatment plant built to accommodate demand.
Summit Reveals Shortfall
At the last Water Quality Summit in June, Mr Jonathan Glerum (Head of Sustainable Growth, Anglian Water) disclosed that Anglian Water were having to plan for the uppermost figure of new homes, so as to keep pace with local development. He admitted Anglian Water are currently unable to keep up with this future demand.
The previous local development plans produced by Southend City Council had a relatively small adjustment due to new homes. Anglian Water had based their plans on those documents. Jonathan explained Anglian Water are being asked to install a sewage network for a small town, without knowing where the new roads or other utility infrastructure were to go. Without knowing these important factors, Anglian Water cannot plan and build a sewage network.
It takes between five to ten years to plan major infrastructure projects, to organise, engage, and obtain permissions from OFWAT and the Environment Agency. Jonathan concluded by describing the situation as a “strategic failure by decision makers.”
We are concerned that with a creaking sewage system in Southend, overloading it with excessive housing development could result in sewage pollution on our streets, foreshore, and even more flowing into our blue spaces.
Please support the campaign to stop development on Bournes Green.
By Shah & Alex Haider
On behalf of Southend Against Sewage
southendagainstsewage.org