River Lambourn battle 'may be heading for courts'

Villagers could seek judicial review over plan to pump semi-treated sewage in Lambourn

A STANDOFF over a “permit to pollute” the River Lambourn between developers, the Environment Agency and campaigners could be heading for the courts.

Last month opponents of plans to dump semi-treated effluent into the River Lambourn were given a boost when West Berkshire Council planners said they would oppose the project.

But campaigners fear that, because of the way the issue was handled, developers could win on appeal.

The campaign to ‘protect the River Lambourn from treated sewage discharge’ had attracted nearly 2,700 signatures as this newspaper went to press.

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 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.”

This week another campaigner, Peter Evans, said: “The problem is that, when West Berkshire planners gave initial permission for the homes, they simply imposed a condition that the development shouldn’t harm the river.

“There was no consultation and now the developers have gone and got a permit from the Environment Agency. If the application to relax the condition of using the mains sewer is rejected, the developers will have good grounds for appeal. However we believe the permit is based on bad science and our barristers are looking at it.”

The matter may yet go to judicial review, said Mr Evans.

Meanwhile Newbury MP Richard Benyon chaired a meeting last Thursday between villagers, campaigners, the Environment Agency and developers.

He said afterwards: “This situation hasn’t been handled particularly well by the Environment Agency. The river has layer upon layer of national and international designations supposed to protect it.”

Mr Benyon said it “remains open to villagers to seek a judicial review”.

However, a third option was proposed at the meeting by developers – installing a reed bed to further treat the discharged effluent.

This option would not satisfy everybody, conceded Mr Benyon, but he added that he would investigate its possible implications.