95-kilometre Anglian Water pipeline through Peterborough moves …
A 95 kilometre pipeline passing through Peterborough could supply drinking water to areas where there are shortages, Anglian Water says. The steel pipeline would be part of a network extending from Grantham in Lincolnshire to Bexwell in Norfolk, delivering surplus water from the former location to areas of need further south.
The project and its above-ground infrastructure will need to win the support of multiple councils in the area including Peterborough City Council[1] (PCC) and Fenland District Council[2] (FDC) to go ahead. In Peterborough, the pipeline would extend from an area to the west of Deeping Gate and the A15 to the border with South Kesteven.
It will pass under the nature reserve at Maxey Quarry, Lincoln Road (A15), the railway, Car Dyke and Thorney Road among other parts of the city. A description of its full course can be found here.[3]
Anglian Water Services (AWS) says that the Grantham to Bexwell pipeline, part of an even larger project to update the East of England’s water supply, will help address climate change, population growth and future droughts. In just two years’ time, the region could face a water deficit of 30 million litres per day, it adds, if no action is taken.
Its larger project will extend from North Lincolnshire to Essex, allowing hundreds of millions of litres to flow throughout the East of England. PCC has already said it approves the plan in theory, but has now been asked to scrutinise the particulars of the pipeline’s layout and design.
New documents submitted by AWS suggest that the development of a new pumping station in Etton will begin in summer 2023. They also say that construction hours will typically be 7am to 7pm in summer and 7am to 5:30pm in winter.
Construction will take place on Saturdays, usually between 7am and 5pm, although the afternoons will typically be used for tidying up and preparation work. Sunday work may occasionally be required, AWS says.
Preparation works have already begun for the pipeline in Peterborough, including archeological digs. AWS says archeologists have found a 2,000-year-old jug, believed to have been used for pouring oil.
They have also found rings and coins, also believed to be from the Roman era. PCC has acknowledged AWS’s latest application, received on 23 May, but is yet to issue a decision.
FDC is also yet to make a decision on its application relating to parts of the pipeline which would run under land covered by its jurisdiction.
References
- ^ Peterborough City Council (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Fenland District Council (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ A description of its full course can be found here. (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
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