Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant Relocation
(2 days, 6 hours ago)
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The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Steve Reed)
This Government have committed to rebuilding Britain, delivering 1.5 million new homes, along with the critical infrastructure that underpins economic growth. As set out in the “Plan for Change”, we will deliver housing in the right places, supporting our towns and cities to grow, and providing the homes that people want, near to businesses and employment opportunities. This Government are therefore committed to growth and have promised to take tough decisions to get Britain building.
One of our first actions was therefore to revise the national planning policy framework, which was formalised on 12 December 2024. This marks the next step in radically reforming the planning system to meet the needs of the country and made major changes to the rules around the green belt. It is therefore right that the application is now properly analysed, with consideration given to the Government’s updated policies.
This statement confirms that it is necessary to extend the deadline for the Secretary of State’s decision on the application by Anglian Water, under the Planning Act 2008, for the Cambridge waste water treatment plant relocation project development consent order (DCO).
Under section 107(1) of the Planning Act 2008, the Secretary of State must make his decision within three months of receipt of the examining authority’s report, unless the power under section 107(3) is exercised to extend the deadline and a ministerial statement is made to Parliament announcing the new deadline.
The DCO application for the Cambridge waste water treatment plant relocation project was received by the Planning Inspectorate under the previous Government’s planning system.
The deadline for this decision is therefore to be further extended to 14 April 2025, to enable the application to be analysed in the light of this key policy update.
The decision to set the new deadline for this application is without prejudice to the decision on whether to grant or refuse development consent.
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