Fears Thames Water 'marks its own homework' over 200 home Cookham plans

More oversight is needed to ensure a looming project for almost 200 homes in Cookham is given adequate sewage infrastructure, parish councillors say.

Discussions over delivery of Bellway Homes’ Cannondown Road plans, including a planning condition regarding sewage, have been ongoing since the Royal Borough gave approval.

Cookham parish councillors fear that without stricter planning controls and RBWM control, a repeat of sewage spills caused by 2024’s flooding could be exacerbated by more homes.

“It’s a bad enough problem already, and we don’t want to make it any worse,” Councillor Jacqui Edwards said at a Cookham Parish Council meeting on Tuesday (April 8).

Maidenhead development management panel voted to approve Bellway’s 199-home plans in December, during a heated meeting which saw the council draw criticism for its handling of the debate.

At the Cookham Parish Council planning committee meeting, an update regarding the development and discussions with RBWM planning officers was given by Cllr Edwards.

Cllr Edwards said she had asked for clarification over concerns about the strength of wording in a sewage planning condition that had been discussed at the Maidenhead meeting.

‘The wording of the condition mentions capacity – which is how big the pipes are – but it doesn’t mention anything about what happens when there’s flooding and when the sewage pumping station fails,’ she said.

Thames Water’s Lightlands Lane sewage pumping station was knocked out of action during last year’s extreme flooding, dubbed the worst in a decade.

This was due to problems with a flooded substation and underwater electrical equipment at the pumping station.

At a meeting in May 2024, Thames Water executive David Harding told villagers the company was raising the level of electrics at Lightlands Lane following the floods.

However, at the parish meeting, Cllr Edwards said RBWM should have more involvement in discussions between Thames Water and developer Bellway Homes to ensure the delivery of an adequate sewage system.

Thames Water had previously said its system around Cookham would struggle to cope with the Cannondown Road homes.

Cllr Edwards said: “We were really worried that it seemed to be Thames Water would effectively mark their own homework, and they would come to RBWM basically saying ‘we think it’s all fine’.

“We’re particularly worried that, as we all know, Thames Water has severe debt problems and it’s not a public body – it’s a private body – so we would like RBWM to be involved in assessing that Thames Water has actually produced the goods in terms of working sewage system.”

A Thames Water spokesperson said the company ‘works closely with local authorities’ to deliver housing needs and did actively seek to comment on applications it has concerns over.

Regular inspections of the Cookham sewer network are carried out, the spokesperson said, and an upgrade to Maidenhead sewage works is planned to help improve capacity by 2026.

A council spokesperson said: “As per the planning conditions, Thames Water must complete the necessary network upgrade to accommodate additional water flow – and will need to provide evidence this has been done before any building work can start.

RBWM would ensure the parish council and residents 'are kept informed throughout the process,' the spokesperson added.