Legal agreement for planned Three Oaks sewage works still not signed

Southern Water’s application for a wastewater treatment works and pumping station off Fourteen Acres Lane and Butcher’s Lane was given the go-ahead by East Sussex County Council’s planning committee back in October.

The two facilities would cover all waste water flows within Three Oaks as households currently rely on private drainage systems.

While a legal agreement between Southern Water and the county council has been drafted, it has not yet been signed due to the utility company still needing to resolve land ownership issues.

Back in October the planning committee resolved that if the agreement had not been completed within six months after the resolution the application would be referred back to councillors.

County councillors agreed to a two-month time extension to allow the legal agreement to be signed at a meeting on Wednesday (April 13).

Richard Stogdon (Con, Crowborough), vice chairman of the committee, said: “We as a committee spent a great deal of time looking at this and we did approve the original application.

“It would be undesirable for us not to grant this extension of time.”

Kathryn Field (LDem, Battle and Crowhurst) said she did not like being in this position, as applicants should have undergone a process to sort such issues out when they have submitted an application.

But she added: “Residents of Three Oaks do need a sewage system and it seems foolish to put a stop to it for the sake of a couple of months.”

However she would be ‘worried’ if they had to come back in two months looking to grant another extension.

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