Fury as hundreds of new homes approved in village with 'no sewage capacity'

Residents of a small town with fewer than 400 homes are left angered after plans to add 153 new houses exclude expansion of the system. Maids Moreton, a village nestled on the edge of , has seen development proposals approved, despite its sewage works being over capacity for years.

The town, which boasts just 350 homes-many of which are thatched cottages-a mediaeval church and a pub, has had its wastewater system neglected for quite some time. With the village soon seeing its size expand by 43%, locals are concerned that there will be "nowhere to treat the sewage." Buckinghamshire Council is building the new properties as part of its target for new homes. However, they have yet to address the inevitable increase of sewage into a nearby river.

Local residents are now campaigning to stop the new development from being built without a full plan for the sewage works.

"You wouldn't dream of building a house that you couldn't connect to electricity, or that was never going to connect to a road. But for some reason we're building houses that have nowhere to treat the sewage," Kate Pryke told the.

The Buckingham resident claims there is no money to upgrade the infrastructure to facilitate the number of homes in the area, labelling a potential upgrade as a "pipe dream".

There was provisional funding allocated to expand the sewage works in Maids Moreton between 2020-2025, but it was redistributed to another town in the region.

Anglian Water, who is responsible for the area's sewerage investment - along with Ofwat and the Environment Agency - said they are "currently reviewing and prioritising our growth portfolio for delivery over the next five years".

The overcapacity of wastewater systems is not isolated to one village; Oxford is also on the brink. All new development was halted after the Environment Agency raised concerns that the 18,000 proposed new homes would be without a sufficient sewage system.

However, upgrades to the Oxford Sewage Treatment Works have now been approved, allowing for housebuilding to begin in 2027.

A government spokesperson told the broadcaster: "Councils must consider sewerage capacity as part of their housebuilding plans, and, through our Independent Water Commission, we will clean up our waterways by ensuring that development planning and water infrastructure work more efficiently."

Buckinghamshire Council has been contacted by the Express for comment.