Poor communication and growing concern
Maidonians living near the site of a proposed water treatment plant close to a nursery school have criticised the water company for not engaging enough with the community.
College Avenue contains a pump station – and South East Water has plans to amp it up with a £14million upgrade, to ‘boost the quality of water’ to around 60,000 customers in the Maidenhead area.
Neighbours are not keen on the idea.
Since the application was validated on November, 24 objections have been logged from residents of College Avenue and The Crescent.
Several said they thought the ‘significant increase’ in both size and height to the existing pumping station, with its proposed 8m building, would be a ‘total eyesore… not suitable for a residential area.’
Others said they were ‘very concerned’ over the storing of hazardous chemicals on-site, especially given its location.
Adam Smith, director of Chartam House Nursery next door to the site, said he was concerned about the health and safety of the children, staff and parents.
His concerns included the noise, dust and contaminants from the works, as well as increased traffic during the peak times due to transportation of chemicals to the site.
South East Water was also lambasted for its ‘woeful’ engagement with residents.
The company said it had sent in the region of 100 letters to neighbours notifying them of the plans.
But objectors say they received no correspondence from South East Water.
One objector was Councillor Simon Bond (Lib Dem, Belmont) of the Royal Borough, who wrote: “It is disappointing to see consultation invitations mentioned in the letter of January 17, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
“The details seem to have changed from 90 posted letters to 136 delivered and sent to local ‘stakeholders.’
“The feedback from residents clearly shows that something went amiss.”
College Avenue resident Chris Bailey is among those who are against the development and is concerned by the engagement process.
He told the Advertiser: “It’s the most weird location to have a water treatment plant.
“They’re not normally on a residential road and it’s not right that the proposed storage tanks of chemicals are less than 10 metres from the children’s play area.
“I don’t think they have done a very good risk analysis.”
He added: “It’s been handled extremely badly.
“One person might have lost a letter but not 136. So obviously they didn’t do it.
“At least they should have that consultation with residents.
“The thing should be put on hold and they should talk to us about it.”
A spokesperson for South East Water said: “This is an important strategic water production site for South East Water that adheres to the highest safety standards for the storage and use of chemicals.
“Various potential issues, including noise levels, the height of the proposed building and visual impact, have been considered as part of the design process for this essential treatment
works upgrade project, and we have looked to mitigate this as far as possible.
“We wrote to residents, stakeholders and the press in June 2023 before work began on the first phase of the project and issued letters to the community about the public consultation event held in Maidenhead in September 2023.
“We are sorry if any residents did not receive letters about the event, which was to provide the local community with the opportunity to speak
with our project team about the proposed work in the second phase, before we submitted the planning application.
“We remain keen to work with the community so we can provide the best outcome possible for this important project.”
W See plans for the new treatment building on College Avenue by entering reference 23/02722/FULL in the RBWM planning portal.