The Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant Relocation Project was granted consent by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) on 8 April 2025.
This Anglian Water project involves the construction and operation of:
- an Integrated Waste Water Treatment Centre and Sludge Treatment Plant
- transfer tunnels
- terminal and intermediate pumping stations
- vehicle access
- utility connections
- renewable energy generation
- ancillary buildings
- landscaping.
The result will be a new waste water treatment plant for Greater Cambridge, located south of Horningsea, to replace the current site on Cowley Road.
The project falls under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) process as defined in the Planning Act 2008 (as amended). Responsibility for accepting and examining the NSIP application lay with the Secretary of State, not the local authorities, who were identified as statutory consultees, or ‘host’ authorities, in the NSIP process.
For further details of the NSIP process for this project, please visit the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) website.
Documentation
- View the Secretary of State's Decision Letter [PDF, 0.5MB] in full
- View the decision documents