Lower Beeding wastewater works could expand at cost of woodland

An application to extend Lower Beeding Wastewater Treatment Works, in Leechpond Hill, will be heard by West Sussex County Council’s planning committee on Tuesday June 4.

The proposal would modernise the treatment techniques and technology at the works, increasing the surface area from 250 metres squared to approximately 570 metres squared.

However it would see the loss of 500 metres squared of ancient woodland, while the site is also on the western edge of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

According to the officers’ report: “County council’s ecologist, landscape architect and tree officer all object in principle to the proposal due to the loss of the ancient woodland, they accept that there may be no other suitable alternative for this proposal.”