Sewage treatment plan at 100-home Forest development on Derritt Lane, Bransgore, sparks backlash

Plans for a sewage treatment facility near 100 proposed homes in Bransgore have been slammed by almost 250 residents.

The proposal to change the layout and drainage plans of the housing scheme on Derritt Lane would involve the creation of a package treatment plan (PTP) and infrastructure.

This follows the approval in May 2022 of the 100-home development despite strong opposition from by Bransgore and Sopley parish councils, and more than 140 objectors.

At the time of the approval, developer Wyatt Homes argued the scheme’s comprehensive system of bunds and drainage basins would not worsen flooding issues currently experienced by neighbours in Wiltshire Gardens and the downstream communities of Sopley and Winkton, but instead improve the situation.

On behalf of Wyatt Homes, planning manager Philip Saunders said introducing the treatment plant to the north-eastern part of the site had come about as a result of restrictions requiring new housing developments within the Avon catchment to be phosphate neutral.

But this has sparked a huge backlash from residents, with many arguing Wyatt Homes should be forced to submit a new planning application.

One resident wrote: “The proposal for a separate new foul water treatment plant is unacceptable. The treatment plant is too close to residential buildings. The run-off will be into Clockhouse stream, and this presents a threat to the waterways and biodiversity of the area and increases the probability of flooding.

“Power cuts, frequent in Bransgore, also cause interruptions to the pumping and treatment of water, increasing the risk of untreated waste water flowing into the local waterways.”

Another added: “This chaos over how Wyatt Homes will get rid of the inhabitants' waste products reinforces that the original application should never have been approved. The land floods already, and the flooding has been getting worse.”

A resident of nearby St Mary’s close said: “The land itself is prime agricultural land; the UK is supposed to be looking at food security, changing the use of land has an impact on this. Whoever signed off on this in the first place should be ashamed.”

A neighbour from Woodlands Close said: “Having read up on the environmental effects of a sewerage treatment plan, I strongly object to this being placed in the vicinity I bring up my family. We moved to the edge of the green New Forest for a cleaner, healthier life – not for this!”

It was also claimed by many residents that installing a PTP was the “cheapest option” for developers, and the decision had been taken at the expense of local residents’ health and wellbeing.

“This plan will adversely the whole village of Bransgore in a hugely negative way,” added another respondent. “It is immoral, unviable and not nutrient neutral as per the NFDC and Natural England's policies.”

A spokesperson for Wyatt Homes said: “The application proposes to incorporate a new PTP into the housing scheme which has already been consented by New Forest District Council.

“The PTP has been proposed in order to deliver an enhanced level of nutrient removal than is currently possible to achieve via a standard discharge of foul water directly in to the public wastewater treatment works serving this area.

“This removal of harmful nutrients is important in order to help conserve the protected environmental habitats located within the River Avon and Christchurch harbour catchments further downstream of the site. The PTP in question is widely used elsewhere, can be accommodated safely below ground, and will not produce any odour.”

Comments on the application can be submitted to NFDC until Thursday 6th June. A decision is then expected after Thursday 25th July.