Labour under attack for £400m sewage plant ‘the size of Wembley Stadium'
The Environment Secretary has been attacked for his decision to relinquish swathes of Cambridge's green belt for a £400m sewage plant as big as Wembley Stadium.
Steve Reed has approved controversial plans to relocate Anglian Water's sewage plant in Milton to Honey Hill, as part of a major development across Cambridge which will include 8,000 new homes.
It comes despite a backlash from local residents and advice from planning inspectors to withhold the plans to build sealed sewage digesters as tall as 26m on agricultural land. The new plant would occupy 22 hectares – exceeding Wembley Stadium's 18 hectares of internal floor space.
The Government has committed £277m of taxpayer money on the project, with total costs running to £400m.
Despite assurances from Anglian Water, local communities have warned that nearby villages and schools will be affected by fumes emitted from the plant.
Charles Jones, a resident of nearby village Fen Ditton, said: 'Anglian Water says it's unlikely we'd have any odour problems in the village – but that's not the same as saying you never would.
'There's a number of stresses here, but the most immediate thing is, we are going to lose a slice of Cambridge's green belt. To see it go with this big industrial thing in the middle of it … Next thing you know, you'll get speculative developments around the outside.
'It'll all end up being spoilt and not very good to anybody.'
Mr Reed gave the green light to plans to deliver 5,500 homes on the site of the vacated plant, as well as an extra 1,425 homes on land that had otherwise been constrained by an 'odour zone' around the Milton site.
The historic city is central to Labour's ambitions to build 1.5m homes by the end of parliament. It has mandated the Cambridge Growth Company to draw up a housing target for the city, which could add hundreds and thousands of homes by 2050.
Ministers are also on a drive to increase building on green belt land. Under Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner's planning reforms, large swathes of green belt land have also been redesignated as 'grey belt' areas to make it easier to build homes on.
Heather Williams, leader of the Conservatives at South Cambridgeshire District Council, said the decision is 'sad and devastating' for residents, and that ministers appear to be treating Cambridge as a 'cash cow' at the expense of the countryside.
Ms Williams said: 'The Government needs to understand that for us in the countryside, this is our quality of life that they're messing around with. The stress they have put people through, to then just ignore the evidence and do what they want – it's cruel.
'Where we're heading as a country is very concerning, because the green belt can't be replaced – once it's gone, it's gone.'
Campaigners are assessing the scope for a judicial review and looking to raise funds for the undertaking.
Margaret Starkie, chairman of the Save Honey Hill campaign group, said: 'Cambridge is such a crowded, small city that we need these green spaces.
'As you drive towards Cambridge, your entrance from the east will be overshadowed by stacks as high as 26m, taking up an area as big as Wembley's football grounds. This will have such a terrible impact.'
'We are angry that the process is such that it's really not fit for purpose, that planning inspectors with many years of experience, who looked very carefully at everybody's submissions, should have their recommendations thrown out at the whim of a Secretary of State.'
A spokesman for Defra said: 'The Secretary of State's decision follows a thorough examination during which all the relevant issues were considered in detail.'
David Barnetson, of Anglian Water, said Mr Reed's decision was 'a significant milestone in facilitating this for Greater Cambridge and moving to the next phase of activity'.
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