A senior politician believes a huge new sewage plant should have been built at Shoreham Harbour instead of on the South Downs.

Southern Water’s £300 million treatment works would have kickstarted the regeneration of the area, Carl Maynard, vice-chairman of East Sussex County Council’s planning committee has claimed.

Instead the facility, which will treat waste water from Brighton before pumping it out to sea, is being built at Lower Hoddern Farm, Peacehaven, after a highly controversial decision by the committee last week.

Shoreham Harbour was one of a number of other sites shortlisted for the works but was ruled out.

Coun Maynard said: “You could argue that Shoreham Harbour needs regeneration and that this decision is a missed opportunity to do that.

Although some people would see the building of a new sewage plant as a negative, there are instances where these things actually kick-start regeneration and I believe that would have happened at Shoreham.”

The politician has won praise from campaigners opposed to the Lower Hoddern Farm scheme, dubbed “Poohaven”, after he voted against the plans.

Although planning votes are not conducted on party lines, Coun Maynard’s stance was at odds with some of his colleagues in East Sussex County Council’s ruling Tory administration.

He said he felt the site at Peacehaven was not suitable, mainly because it is a greenfield site. He said: “I don’t think we should be building these sorts of things on greenfield sites. Shoreham Harbour is already an industrialised area and would have been more suitable.”

Meanwhile, campaigners will now continue their fight against the plans, despite apparently limited options of attack.

John Hodgson, from the group Peacehaven Residents Opposed to Urban Development (PROUD), said their main hope would be for Hazel Blears, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to call in the decision and then reject it. He said: “That is the first avenue we have to actively pursue and that is exactly what we’ll do. It is not over yet.”

It remains unlikely the minister will overturn the decision after the Government previously said it broadly agreed with the plans and acknowledged the need for the works in order to avoid EU fines for water quality.

Coun Maynard offered a glimmer of hope. He said: “If I was cynical I would say one reason they might overturn it is for political reasons.

There is going to be a general election not that far away and the Brighton Kemptown constituency is one of those which are likely to be a threat for the Government.

“But it is absolutely right that those opposed to this scheme continue their fight to the very end.”