New water treatment works set to get the go-ahead

Plans for a new East Yorkshire water treatment works, to replace an existing facility that is in danger from coastal erosion, are set to get the green light from councillors later this week (25 October 2018).Yorkshire Water lodged plans with East Riding of Yorkshire Council earlier this year for the new Withernsea Waste water Treatment Works (WwTW).The existing facility is located to the south of Withernsea, close to the village of Hollym. It was last upgraded in 1991, at which time it was 68 metres away from the cliff edge. Due to significant levels of coastal erosion, the facility is now about 40 metres from the cliff and needs to be relocated.Planning consent is sought for a new wastewater treatment works comprising two open treatment cells of about 4.7 acres each. It would be located on land south of Happy Landings, with access from Myers Lane and the A1033.The facility will utilise new Aero-Fac waste water treatment technology, to be supplied by Gurney Environmental. This system is designed to be more sustainable and has a lower carbon footprint as it uses less energy.The application will go before the council’s planning committee on 25 October and a planning officer’s report prepared for the meeting recommends that consent is granted, subject to conditions.The report said there were no “design, landscape or visual amenity; residential amenity; nature conservation and ecology; flood risk, drainage and groundwater pollution; heritage assets; access, parking or highway safety concerns” with the plans.It planning permission is granted, work on the new facility is expected to start in spring 2020 and complete in the summer of 2021.The existing WwTW would be decommissioned and returned to agricultural use.