We have until this Friday 9th May to object to China Gateway Phase 1 in planning application F/TH/08/0400. Why should you object? If for no other reason , object because China Gateway poses a real threat to Thanet's drinking water.
Michael Child on www.thanetonline.blogspot.com has put up a zoned water catchment area map around our main extraction point at Sparrow Castle Pumping station. If you look at it you will see that CGP Ltd want to construct the two largest warehouses (X-Types) on the whole site, within 350 m of this pumping station and within Pink Zone 1 which is an area that means that contamination will 'hit' our aquifer within 50 days. If you look carefully at Michael's map you will see that the only other building in Zone 1 is the pumping station itself. Why do you think that is?
I hope our Councillors will read this, my previous posts and Michael's carefully, to fully understand what we are all facing here. Water is a vital resource that is in short supply in the South East. Only last year, TV crews were popping down Victorian built aquifers and noting how low the levels were. Unless we are to have a 'National Water Grid' connected to the South East, any development that prevents water collecting in an aquifer or poses a serious threat of contamination to it, SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO GO AHEAD! It's as simple as that.
You may well be asking why I have put up the logo of KLARGESTER? My sources tell me that this septic tank company have been asked to prepare a costed proposal for sewerage treatment for The China Gateway project for CGP.
I will not go into detail about BOD factors and 'pongs' but the proposal seems to involve consideration of 2 methods of what is basically septic tank systems. One is that there is a central system for the whole site or individual systems for each unit or group of business units. The systems need servicing and 'solid' matter pumped out as and when necessary. Are they to be centrally or individually serviced and maintained?
Like me, you might be wondering why Southern Water are not involved in this whole business? At the moment they do not seem to appreciate the problem. Should we not be looking at a central sewage and water 'run off' sewers that removes water and contaminants away from the critical water catchment zones? Aaah, that is a more expensive option than Klargester and its septic tank systems! Here is what the EA reports submitted by CGP say about the development:
" The aquifer underlying the site is considered to be a major aquifer providing potable water to a large population." (CGP Application)
" There is potential for significant pollution of the aquifer to occur" (CGP Application).
"" should chemicals leach into the groundwater underlying the site the impact would be LONGTERM and in some cases UN-RECOVERABLE" (my capitals).
Its quite simple , if there is a spillage or contamination of the wrong kind that happens on the China Gateway site then NO MORE DRINKING WATER FROM THIS AQUIFER FOR YOU AND ME!
Its as simple as that, so get your protest in to TDC.
4 comments:
I take it the Environment Agency has commented on this proposal?
It looks like the EA have not been up to task on this one.
I would look up the differences with Nitrates [fertilizer]and Nitrites [sewage].
I for one am not going to put up with my water rates going up due to sheer planning incompetence.
Our water is obtained from three sources...that the local plan states Thanet can have its water piped in, is laughable - at what cost to the tax paying public i cannot see the developers bunging each Thanet tax payer £50 quid a year towards their water bill can you?
The real question here can we collectively trust the planers at TDC on this issue sand who tune will they dance to it certainly will not be ours that's for sure.
In amongst the massive amount of pages that constitute this huge and major planning application is the correspondence from the environment agency thus far. It would seem that there hasn’t been enough time for them to produce recommendations on the environmental viability of the whole project.
Click here to read the correspondence unfortunately the government planning site is put together in a way that makes it impossible to make reliable links to individual pages so I have copied it on to my own site and published it in ordinary html
When my children were small I remember a Jackanory story on BBC tv that provoked a great deal of discussion in our house. The story was called 'A thing called delicious' and was about various people deciding what the most delicious thing was. When the baddie cut off the water supply, then everyone knew that the most thing called delicious was - fresh, clean water!!
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