Anglian Water strategic water network programme – route planning in our area

23rd September 2021 | Parish Clerk Report

An update on the work Anglian Water are doing on the proposed pipeline between Bexwell and Bury St Edmunds since their last correspondence in August 2021 from the Strategic Pipelines Team:-

It is part of a huge, interconnecting network which will help combat the impact of climate change and keep fresh, clean water flowing across our region. The total investment will be about £400 million and, once complete, our new pipelines will be longer than any UK motorway.

Locally, it will increase reliability and reduce the number of homes and businesses which currently rely on a single pipeline. 

What work have we done so far?  

We submitted a planning application accompanied by an Environmental Statement (ES) to the local planning authorities this month.

The ES details the findings of our Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), reporting on the potential significant environmental effects of our work and how we plan to avoid, reduce and mitigate them. To view the planning application documents on the local authority portal please click here.

We also carried out the first of our ground investigation works starting in the Hilgay area.

What’s happening next?

We will continue with our ground investigation survey work which will inform our detailed construction approach and, as soon as the planning decision has been made, we will be in touch.

We appreciate that our ground investigation work may impact some people within your area and we are in contact with landowners and farmers about the proposed preferred route.

Ground investigation involves digging trial pits and/or drilling small diameter boreholes to investigate the underlying geology and ground conditions.
We can get a lot of information from soil and geology maps but the best way to determine ground conditions is to visit a site and carry out these investigations.

We expect to begin our archaeological trial trenching this week, commencing in Bexwell, moving south into other areas along the pipeline route. We anticipate that these surveys will take around 10 to 12 weeks to complete.

How to get in touch

We’d be very happy to share more detail on our plans and we would gladly answer any questions via email, letters, conference and telephone calls.

You can contact us via our Customer Centre, call us on 03457 145145, quoting Ref 57182448 or email  if you have any questions or comments.

Please visit our dedicated webpages, here, for further information – including an interactive map showing the location of our preferred route.

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