Wyatt Homes plan for sewage treatment plant at Derritt Lane development in Bransgore ‘unlikely to be passed’ NFDC senior planner says

Controversial plans to build a sewage treatment plant in Bransgore are unlikely to be passed by planners, the developer has been told.

The scheme is part of a 100-home development in the village which was approved in 2022 despite strong opposition by parish councils and 140 objectors, many of whom are concerned by regular flooding during heavy rain.

As reported in the A&T, developer Wyatt Homes wants to change the layout and drainage plans, creating a package treatment plant (PTP). This brought another backlash, with around 250 residents objecting.

The company said the PTP was needed because of restrictions requiring new housing developments within the Avon catchment to be phosphate neutral.

Now a senior NFDC planning officer has written to Wyatt saying that, in its present form, the application will almost certainly be refused on several grounds including the Environment Agency’s objection which it says “raises concerns”.

This was because Wyatt Homes is proposing to “allow foul drainage to connect to a NAV via a package treatment plant” when the “preferred method is to connect to a mains solution”.

The EA said “approved NAVs are treated as if they are a mains sewerage connection” and it would not insist on a connection to the mains but said that there needed to be “legal certainty the proposed connection would be to a NAV recognised and approved by Ofwat.”

It said that there would then need to be a permit to allow discharge into the Clockhouse Stream and then into Christchurch Harbour.

But the agency said it had “concerns” over the “ability for the stream to receive the proposed volume of output” from the NAV “so close to its headquarters.”

Environmental Health wanted to know who would be responsible for the pumping station and sewage treatment plant after the development is finished.

It said that there was no detail about what backup systems would be used if the plant failed and means of controlling noise and odor emissions.

A council landscape officer also objected to the application and said there needed to be more detail about the loss of trees, and details relating to the access road and the impact this would have on the layout of the site.

The submitted drainage layout plan drawing was also in “direct conflict” with a tree protection plan covering the area and that “the excavation of the sewer in such close proximity to the high amenity trees will result in the significant harm and likely loss of these trees and is not acceptable”.

The planning officer said there were now three options for Wyatt Homes which were:

• Withdraw the application and resubmit once information requested was available

• Withdraw and change the strategy moving forward

• Extend the time frame of the application to an agreed date, giving the company the “opportunity to provide the information required and to try and satisfy the concerns raised”.

Tim Hoskinson, planning director at Wyatt Homes told the A&T the developer was “working closely with the council” to address the concerns raised.

“We are currently preparing a package of further information to address the consultee comments in full, which will be submitted to the council in due course,” he said.

“We are confident that we can resolve the outstanding concerns, our goal is to deliver a sustainable solution that improves water quality and meets the requirements for nutrient neutrality, and we are continuing to investigate a range of options to achieve this.

“We remain committed to working collaboratively with the council to secure the necessary approvals and ensure the successful implementation of this project."