Anglian Water Services Ltd is proposing a new waste water treatment plant for Greater Cambridge which will replace the existing plant in the city centre.
The proposal will be determined by the Secretary of State for Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affair (DEFRA). The proposal includes:
- the construction and operation of an integrated waste water treatment centre and sludge treatment plant
- transfer tunnels
- terminal and intermediate pumping stations
- vehicle access
- utilities connections
- renewable energy generation
- ancillary buildings and landscaping.
Responsibility for accepting and examining the NSIP application rests with the Secretary of State and not the local authorities, who are identified as statutory consultees, or ‘host’ authorities, in the NSIP process.
There are 3 authorities involved in this NSIP project:
- Cambridge City Council
- South Cambridgeshire District Council
- Cambridgeshire County Council
All 3 host planning authorities have agreed to work together to ensure full scrutiny of this project takes place.
For further details of the NSIP process for this project, please visit the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) website.
Examination and decision
A 6-month Examination ran from the 17 October until the 17 April 2024. All submissions made to the Planning Inspectorate will be published online and made available throughout the Examination period in the Examination Document Library.
Following the conclusion of the examination, the Examining Authority have 3 months to make their recommendation to Secretary of State and then a further 3-month period follows before a decision is issued.
The decision on the Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant Relocation DCO application was delayed. The deadline, initially set for 12 October 2024 and then extended to 12 January 2025, has now been further postponed to 14 April 2025. Following this, the Secretary of State (SoS) issued a letter inviting further representations from all interested parties regarding the amended National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Both councils have submitted responses [PDF, 86Kb].
More recently, the SoS requested additional clarification from Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council on key issues, including housing need calculations, the implications of the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) relocation, and the Greater Cambridge Local Plan (GCLP). Both councils have submitted responses [PDF, 0.2MB].
Please see the applicant's (Anglian Water) website for more information.