Anglian Water has secured development consent for the relocation of Cambridge’s sewage treatment plant, clearing the way for significant housing-led regeneration.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs approved the Development Consent Order (DCO) on 8 April. The application was examined over six months following its submission in April 2023.
The scheme will deliver a new integrated waste water and sludge treatment centre. Infrastructure includes transfer tunnels, pumping stations, access roads, utility connections, renewable energy facilities, ancillary buildings and landscaping.
The facility will be constructed on a site north of the A14, between Fen Ditton and Horningsea. It will replace the existing Cowley Road facility, which will be demolished.
The scheme unlocks a wider development plan for up to 8,000 homes in the North East Cambridge area. Anglian Water will deliver the project through its long-standing @one Alliance framework.
The alliancing model, established in 2005, was last year renewed for the upcoming Asset Management Plan 8 (AMP8) period, which runs from 2025 to 2030.
Partners include Binnies, Balfour Beatty, Barhale, Mott MacDonald Bentley, MWH Treatment, Skanska and SWECO. These firms have delivered £1.3bn of capital works during the current AMP7 period (2020–25).
The @one Alliance is expected to deliver £2.6bn of Anglian Water’s overall AMP8 programme. This forms part of a proposed £9bn capital investment across the East of England.
The Planning Inspectorate said the Cambridge project is only the second waste water DCO to be approved under the 2008 Planning Act.
It is also one of 154 applications examined on schedule.
Source: Planning Inspectorate press release