Southern Water Wivelsfield sewage works 'traffic chaos'

Lewes Green Party district councillor Sue Morris made the comments following ongoing disruption caused by sewage tankers operating around the clock between Wivelsfield and Goddards Green.

The tankers are carrying out improvements at Wivelsfield Sewage Treatment Works, but Cllr Morris said they have generated "traffic chaos" in the village and argued the facility has been operating "over capacity for years."

Cllr Morris said: "Residents are used to seeing tankers at the pumping station at the eastern end of the village, which doesn’t seem to have ever worked properly since the Charters Gate development was built.

"They are now seeing traffic chaos at the western end of the village where part of the Ditchling Road is being used as a parking bay for tankers.

"Investment in increasing capacity to prevent spills into rivers is urgently needed to meet the expanding needs of the village."

She added that pressures have been exacerbated by the construction of 150 new homes in Wivelsfield, with a further 487 proposed in planning applications.

Southern Water confirmed that tankers had been used recently to take some flows away for treatment elsewhere while work takes place to upgrade the facility.

A spokesman for Southern Water said: “We’re sorry about the noise and disruption our tankers have caused in the Wivelsfield area. We are making improvements to the wastewater treatment site to keep it resilient and fit for the future.

"The works include replacement of the arms that distribute wastewater over the treatment filter beds and reinforcement of the hubs.

"At times during this process the site would not be able to operate at peak efficiency and tankers have been used to take some flows away for treatment elsewhere to ensure the environment.

"Tankers were stood down today and we hope to avoid their use for the rest of the work.”