Fears town will be 'swamped with sewage' after Severn Trent 'U-turn' over 375 homes plan

Gloucestershire residents fear their market town will be “swamped with sewage” if plans to build 375 new homes get the go-ahead. Newent residents currently have to put up with the sight and stench of sewage bubbling out of manholes and running down the street.

Tanker lorries are said to be coming and going on a regular basis from the sewage works to mitigate the lack of capacity in the storage tanks. And hundreds of people fear the plans by developer Robert Hitchins to develop almost 60 acres of agricultural land south of Gloucester Street will exacerbate the problems.

The outline planning application being considered by Forest of Dean District Council is for up to 375 homes, a first form entry primary school including nursery, up to 83,958.5 sq ft of employment land and a centre which could have shops, cafes and a hot food takeaway.

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Consultants working on the scheme said the new estate would provide a range of one to five bedroom homes. And they believe proposals demonstrate that a high quality, responsive and sustainable development is achievable and deliverable for land south east of Newent.

But residents fear the sewage system, which is already at capacity, will not cope with the extra houses. They are also at a loss as to why the water firm Severn Trent has done U-turn and withdrawn its objection to the scheme.

Resident Clare Stone is concerned they are putting profit before people. She said it’s very shameful for them to be looking at taking on more customers given the problems in the town.

“It’s not surprising that Severn Trent wants more customers,” she said. “They will get them if these plans go ahead which will result in more profits and more dividends building on the huge dividend rise that they have given to their shareholders this year.

“It’s very disappointing they are keen to take on more customers when they can’t even deliver an adequate service to the ones they’ve got. In Newent we have sewage bubbling up through the manhole covers in the street, raw sewage, regular discharges into local watercourses, the service isn’t there.

“It’s destroying the environment, endangering wildlife and now causing an issue with public health as well. If customers had a choice they would be leaving in droves. But we don’t have a choice, we are stuck with them. It’s a monopoly.”

Jeff and Judith Seers are among the many residents who have objected to the proposals. They want to know why Severn Trent have made a “complete U-Turn” by withdrawing their objection.

“A few months ago it was stated by Severn Trent that the local facilities could not cope and improvements would not commence until 2030,” Judith said.

“In the meantime, tanker lorries have been recorded coming and going on a regular basis from the sewage works to mitigate the lack of capacity in the storage tanks.

“And that is not even taking into account the extreme amounts of discharges into the local waterways, causing pollution and damage to the wildlife and ecosystems.

“Residents have also had to contend with sewage bubbling up out of manhole covers and running down the road, and the traffic disruption caused by diggers and temporary traffic lights for weeks on end, whilst contractors try to remedy the problem, this has been recorded too.

“I do not believe that the situation has changed in any way that Severn Trent can now honestly say the facilities in Newent will be able to cope with any extra pressure of 375 more houses when it is so obviously struggling already.”

Chris Moore, a fellow resident, said Severn Trent had previously said the system couldn’t cope with the new houses then they suddenly changed their objection and instead wanted a condition on the proposals.

“They have got to expand the facilities. They can’t say to the population half of you have a shower Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and the rest Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

She also raised concerns that health services will be able to cope with extra patients. Severn Trent says they endeavour to work with any developer to ensure the drainage they are constructing meets national standards and to agree points of connection onto our network.

Seven Trent said there are occasions that if they are aware that improvements to the network or treatment works are required, they may request that a planning application is delayed until they have undertaken those improvements.

A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “While water companies can raise concerns and request changes to planning applications for new developments, legally, we have no say in if a development can go ahead or not.

“However, what we can do is look into what impact any new developments may have on our network, and if we feel there are any concerns, we will discuss this with the developer, while considering if any network upgrades are needed.”

District planners have yet to decide the proposals but a public notice issued by them says the scheme does not comply with their policies for Newent.