New marina plan sails into trouble

Fears over risks to wildlife, potential contamination and pollution

HUNGERFORD’S ambitious new marina project is heading for troubled waters over pollution fears.

A spokesman for Lakeland Leisure, Stephen Rice, told Hungerford Town Council last month that work could begin by next year providing planners didn’t impose “hundreds of conditions”.

But hopes of plain sailing for the project have been dashed.

Fears over sewage disposal, land contamination and widlife loss have been expressed by ecological groups, including the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) and West Berkshire Council’s own environmental health team.

BBOWT senior conservation officer Heather Lewis noted that the proposed Highlands Farm development site opposite Cobbs Farm on the A4 is opposite and adjacent to the Freeman’s Marsh Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Her letter to planners adds: “The SSSI is designated for a range of diverse species and rich wetland habitats which rely on the Kennet and Avon Canal for both quality and quantity of water.

“The SSSI is immediately downstream of the proposed development and so any construction or operational activities that may have an adverse impact on the water quality of the Kennet and Avon Canal presents a significant adverse impact risk for the SSSI.”

Reporting that there is a large population of protected lizards nearby, plus wildfowl, wetland other breeding bird species, the letter concludes that “the applicant has not demonstrated that the proposed development will not result in a net loss for biodiversity”.

West Berkshire Council’s principal ecologist, Jeremy Davy, warns of a “discrepancy in the documents regarding the outfall from the sewage treatment works”.

He goes on to express concern about sewage discharge into the River Dun and its subsequent effect on Freeman's Marsh, and to call for an additional “petrol interceptor” to prevent fuel pollution.

The Kennet and Avon Canal Trust expresses concern about low water levels, while the council’s environmental health officer Joe Dray states: “There is a possibility that contamination may be present at the application site and that some potentially contaminated spoil may be deposited on to nearby agricultural land.

“A specialist contractor was due to return to the site in 2008 to complete the work of removing asbestos from the site... there is no confirmation that this has happened.”

Mr Dray goes on to call for contamination tests to be carried out.

Planning chiefs will now have to consider all the above comments before coming to a final decision.

Lakeland Leisure seeks permission for a 120-berth marina with amenities building housing a reception area, toilets, showers, laundry facilities, cafe restaurant and three residential flats in a 4.5 hectare development site – roughly the size of six football pitches.

A marina project was first awarded planning permission in 2004 following a 12-year battle with campaigners opposed to such a development.

The current plans can be viewed and commented upon by visiting West Berkshire Council website’s planning section and using the reference 15/02312/ COMIND