Government pushes back decision on new Cambridge sewage works
A decision on whether the new Cambridge sewage works can be built has been delayed by the government for a second time.
Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has pushed back the decision until 14 April. It had been due by Sunday (12 January).
Mr Reed said the application for the new sewage works needed to be considered under updated planning policies.
A decision on whether the project to relocate the Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant could go ahead was first due to be issued in October last year.
This deadline was extended to 12 January by Mr Reed in order to give officials more time to “conduct further consultation on emerging planning policy and analysis of responses to the consultation”.
Anglian Water applied for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to ask for permission to build the new sewage works on land north of the A14 between Horningsea and Fen Ditton, known as Honey Hill.
The plant is proposed to replace the existing sewage works in the north east of the city, in order for the land it sits on to be redeveloped as part of the North East Cambridge development, which is proposed to include around 8,000 new homes and new commercial buildings.
The government has committed £277million to the project to build the new sewage works, with the overall cost estimated to be around £400million.
The plans for the new sewage works have been met with backlash from people in the area.
During the six-month examination process objectors questioned why green belt land should be “sacrificed” in order to build the new sewage works.
Some campaigners have spent four years fighting the plans to build the plant near to their homes.
The Planning Inspectorate has issued a recommendation on whether the project should go ahead, but this recommendation has not been made public, and will not be published until the Secretary of State has made a decision.
In a statement issued this week (January 13) Mr Reed said: “This government has committed to rebuilding Britain, delivering 1.5 million new homes along with the critical infrastructure that underpins economic growth.
“As set out in the Plan for Change, we will deliver housing in the right places, supporting our towns and cities to grow, and providing the homes people want near to businesses and employment opportunities.
“This government is therefore committed to growth and has promised to take tough decisions to get Britain building.
“One of our first actions was therefore to revise the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which was formalised on December 12, 2024.
“This marks the next step in radically reforming the planning system to meet the needs of the country and made major changes to the rules around the green belt.
“It is therefore right that the application is now properly analysed with consideration given to the government’s updated policies.
“This statement confirms that it is necessary to extend the deadline for the Secretary of State’s decision on the application by Anglian Water under the Planning Act 2008, for the Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant Relocation Project Development Consent Order (DCO).”
Mr Reed added that the decision to extend the deadline for a second time was made “without prejudice to the decision on whether to grant or refuse development consent”.