Proposed Southern Water Sewer Works
Dear Residents of Paddock Wood,
Many of you will have received correspondence from Southern Water about the work to be undertaken to provide a sewer network to the three new developments in Paddock Wood. This ‘newsletter’ invites correspondence from residents and the accompanying letter states that they are looking at how to hold local drop-ins, which are in lieu of a public meeting which was planned for April 2nd, but had to be cancelled.
Whilst we welcome Southern Water’s commitment to putting the sewer in after Paddock Wood Town Council have spent four years in negotiation with Southern Water ,with more recent intervention from MP Greg Clark, we are not in agreement with the following elements of this plan:
- The plan is being implemented to serve the 1200 houses being built on three sites to the south and east of Paddock Wood, but almost none of the pipeline will be built on developers’ land, but will be placed under the major road routes used by residents of Paddock Wood. This scheme is only being implemented to accommodate the current 3 new developments in accordance with Southern Waters obligations under the Water Industry Act 1991 and for no other reason.
- The location of the pumping station to serve the Berkeley Homes site on Badsell Road is still not certain despite clear space to place this on the Berkeley site close to Badsell Road. Town Council have refused permission to build this on Council Land at Foalhurst Wood, as this would adversely affect the local nature reserve and accessibility for residents.
- The plan to join the sewage from 1200 homes into the Church Farm pumping station could cause significant problems for the residents of the surrounding area. In early 2019, Paddock Wood Town Council were told by Paul Kent, Environment and Wastewater Strategy Manager, Southern Water (now retired) that this pumping station was at maximum capacity and would need significant upgrade to cope with additional flows. The best plan at this time was considered to be a completely separate pipeline laid across the three development sites and going under the railway directly to the waste water treatment works. This proposal was supported by the Town Council. At this time there was also the possibility of diverting sewage from the Le Temple/Dimmock Close area and the Green Lane estate into this new pipework to take the pressure off the system in this part of the town. We have no evidence from Southern Water, despite requesting information, that there has been any work on this pumping station to increase capacity, the only information we have is what is enclosed in their letter to residents.
For the above reasons PWTC does not support this scheme as it does not bypass the existing network which is already at capacity. The addition of 1200 homes to a system which Southern Water have repeatedly told us is at capacity does not make sense to us.
Councillor Carol Williams, Chairman of Planning and Environment Committee
