'Victory for people power' as plans to dump effluent in River Lambourn rejected

But joy is tempered with caution over appeal fears

A NATIONAL outcry over plans to pump semi-treated sewage into the River Lambourn appears to have borne fruit.
Critics had predicted an environmental catastrophe and likened rare chalk stream ecosystems to those of the rainforests.
In a week when the implications for the entire nation’s spring-fed waterways were raised, Weston villagers found themselves bolstered in their opposition by increasingly vocal and powerful activists.
Then, just as the campaign began to go viral, West Berkshire Council planners acted to “clarify” their stance.
To villagers’ relief, they have now clearly stated their opposition to the project, which was designed to save housing developers’ cash by bypassing the main sewer system.
But some critics fear the council’s perceived, earlier ambiguity may have left the back door ajar for a planning appeal against refusal.
The row concerns a new housing development at Teekay Farm in Weston, which was granted planning permission eight years ago.
The developers subsequently sought to bypass sewage mains and to use a cheaper option of discharging semi-treated effluent directly into the river, a globally rare chalk stream which is doubly protected, both as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and as a Special Area of Conservation.
Council planners consulted the Environment Agency (EA), which controversially granted a permit for the discharge – a decision which “beggared belief” according to the national Angling Trust.
Trust chief executive Mark Lloyd said: “The EA has a duty to maintain, improve and develop fisheries – it does not have a duty to increase the profits of housing developers.”
The trust’s national campaigns co-ordinator, former Reading West MP Martin Salter, condemned “this disgraceful decision by the EA to sneak through a completely unacceptable planning application”.
He added: “This looks set to be a national issue with all the political parties pledging to build hundreds of thousands of new homes in the next parliament. We have to stop this becoming a precedent.”
A petition opposing the proposal, by national campaign group 38 Degrees, was edging towards 800 signatories as this newspaper went to press.
National advisory body Natural England also warned of the scheme’s potential to destroy the stream’s rare, diverse and delicately-balanced eco system.
But as campaigners said they were enlisting thousands of other supporters, West Berkshire Council planners wrote to developers, stating: “The current alternative solution to the foul drainage system proposed for the site has not been previously agreed and is not considered acceptable by the council.”
Previously, planners had stated merely that “no development shall commence until further details relating to sustainable drainage measures and information showing that the proposed foul and surface water drainage system will have no significant effect on the River Lambourn shall be submitted for approval on an application made for that purpose”.
Villager Kirsteen Roberts welcomed the latest council email but added: “We need to be on our guard against any appeal.”
And Angling Trust ambassador William Daniel, the boss of Famous Fishing which has leased the fishing rights on the Weston stretch of the Lambourn for the past 20 years, said: “People power is fantastic and this is good news.”
However, he warned: “Unfortunately the whole thing was not handled in the proper way and with proper consultation. Because the council did not make clear its position from the outset, and because the EA meanwhile granted a permit, there could well be an appeal from developers.”