Plans to build thousands of new homes in rural Norfolk could be scuppered by struggling sewage infrastructure. The Labour Government’s housing blitz has seen more than 36,000 new homes built across the country over the last year, with ministers hailing the move as key to delivering “the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation”. An influx of residential developments, and their accompanying inhabitants, could heap pressure on existing infrastructure, however, with some already sounding the alarm over whether already at-capacity sewage systems would buckle under increased demand.
Anglian Water has warned that its sewage site in Whitlingham, a small village in the Norfolk Broads, would not be able to cope with a number of proposed largescale housing developments – at least until major upgrades are complete in 2030. Planning officers in the county have rejected the calls to turn down new proposals, however, insisting that the population growth would have a “negligible” impact on local infrastructure.
The water company cautioned that its Whitlingham plant had reached full capacity and wouldn’t be able to cope with the injection of any new homes until the end of the decade.
It also called for local authorities in Norwich, Broadland and South Norfolk to impose planning conditions on housing developments to prevent people from moving into them until extensive upgrades have been carried out.
Phil Courtier, senior planning officer at South Norfolk and Broadland councils, said: “We immediately said that we could not have this condition.”
“We estimate that, of the 13,000 new homes likely to be granted planning permission in the next three years, only about 1,000 would be occupied before the Whitlingham upgrade is due to be complete,” he told the Eastern Daily Press. “We’d argue that [this] is such a small impact as to be negligible.”
A spokesperson for Anglian Water argued in response that imposing the planning condition was the “environmentally responsible” thing to do.
“Our region is one of the fastest-growing in the country, with 720,000 new residents expected by 2043,” they said.
“We’re spending £280 million in the next five years to upgrade out wastewater treatment capacity. But at some locations, we’re at or beyond capacity, which is why it’s vital for us to work with developers and local authorities at an early stage, to make sure we have the time to ensure our infrastructure is ready to support the region.”
It comes after campaigners in Buckinghamshire lodged a legal challenge against their local authority earlier this year when plans for new housing were pushed through despite Anglian Water sounding the alarm over a lack of capacity.
“This is a case which illustrates the real problem faced in England where planning permissions and approvals are made without proper consideration of the impacts on the environment,” Justin Neil, a solicitor at campaign group Wildfish told the Express.
“That includes the effect of putting extra burdens on an overwhelmed sewage system which leads to poorly treated sewage and sewage spills into rivers.”