New sites to build about 8,000 homes may be needed if sewage works move blocked
New sites across Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire may need to be found to build around 8,000 new homes, if the sewage works move does not go ahead. Proposals are being worked on to build thousands of new homes on the land the existing plant sits on as part of the North East Cambridge development.
Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council are relying on this development to meet some of the housing needs in the area in the coming years. A decision on whether the new sewage works can be built was delayed for a second time this week (January 13).
Senior planners at the city and district council said they are continuing to work on the assumption a decision will be made, but said if the sewage works is not moved and the North East Cambridge development can’t go ahead, then they will need to look at where else homes could be built.
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At a district council cabinet meeting this week (January 14) councillors were presented with a timetable for the local plan to be submitted before the deadline in December 2026. The emerging Greater Cambridge Local Plan aims to guide future development across Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire.
The proposed North East Cambridge development is currently included in the plan, and could see around 8,000 homes built on the edge of the city. Developers are already working on plans for 5,600 of these homes under the Hartree development proposals. The area where the North East Cambridge development is planned includes the site of the existing waste water treatment plant.
Anglian Water applied for a Development Consent Order (DCO) asking for permission to build a new replacement plant on land north of the A14 between Horningsea and Fen Ditton, known as Honey Hill, to enable the current site to be redeveloped. The company has said the new site would be “operationally net zero carbon” and would “provide a long-term solution” to meeting the demands of the growing population in the area.
The government has committed £277million to the project to build the new sewage works, with the overall cost estimated to be around £400million. The project has been met with backlash from people in the area, who have questioned why green belt land should be “sacrificed” in order to build the new sewage works when they said there were “no operational reasons” to move it.
A decision on whether the new facility could be built was first due to be made back in October last year, but Steve Reed, Secretary of State for environment, food and rural affairs has now pushed this back twice. The new deadline for a decision to be made is April 14. Stephen Kelly, joint director Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service, told councillors that work on the emerging joint local plan will continue under the assumption that the sewage works will be moved.
However, he said if approval is not given, then other sites will need to be considered to meet the housing need. He said: “The importance of the [sewage works] decision on [the local plan] is, clearly we have assumed some of the housing need that we have identified in the local plan will be made up by the redevelopment of that site.
“Indeed from an infrastructure perspective the treatment of Waterbeach New Town’s waste will be accommodated by that new facility. The delay in a decision on that means we will proceed on the assumption that a decision will be made, and an expectation in line with the council's submission to the process that the water treatment works will be relocated.
“But of course the statutory process of submitting a plan for consultation in the autumn this year, if that site is no longer available for the city and district council to meet that housing need, we will need to review alternative locations for how that need will be met, and to do so in a way that meets this consultation timeline is going to prove very challenging.”
Mr Kelly said the situation would be kept under review and that councillors would be updated as things progress.