Sewage treatment works plan to be decided

The South of Ashford Garden Community includes plans for a total of 7,250 new homes

Plans for a sewage treatment works to serve new developments in Ashford could be decided on Tuesday.

An application for a plant to serve around 15,000 people will be discussed by Ashford Borough Council's planning committee.

The application was delayed after councillors deferred making a decision at a December meeting.

Due to concerns raised by Natural England, it was then pulled from an April meeting.

It is part of plans for the South of Ashford Garden Community, which includes a total of 7,250 new homes.

So far 763 new homes have been given full planning permission, some of which have already been built.

The sewage works would treat waste from 5,750 planned houses at the Chilmington Green development and potentially a neighbouring development, by the same applicant, in Mock Lane.

Council documents say that without the proposed works, on land to west of Chilmington Green Road, development would not be able to progress beyond those homes already given full permission.

Objections to the plans have been raised by South East Rivers Trust and Kent Wildlife Trust, who highlight the impact on the river Beult.

Another objection points to the proposal being reliant on Southern Water, Severn Trent Connect, who would operate the site, and Independent Water Networks Ltd working together.

One objector said there was a lack of information from the parties about how this will work and who would be responsible "when things go wrong".

Concerns raised by Natural England centred on the impact on the River Beult, as a site of special scientific interest.

More information was given by the applicant regarding discharge volume and its affect on river flow and on the monitoring of water quality.