A utility firm has been warned it will have to fight for the land it needs for a £200 million waste water treatment plant.

Southern Water has started making compulsory purchase orders to buy land for the proposed works at Lower Hoddern Farm, Peacehaven.

It is appealing against a decision to refuse permission for the plant and has submitted a fresh planning application.

Brighton and Hove City Council has told the company no land will be sold until there is a definite decision on the Peacehaven site.

Pumping stations for the treatment works on land at the back of Peacehaven need to be built alongside a pipeline taking the waste water out of Brighton.

Simon Burgess, the council's finance spokesman, said: "We will not sell the land at the foreshore at Black Rock and Marine Drive for the new station without Southern Water securing the necessary planning consent first."

Southern Water says it needs the new works to treat the 95 million litres of waste water produced by the people of Brighton and Hove every day.

Councillor Burgess said: "We desperately need cleaner sea water but I do not believe we should be building on greenfield sites at Peacehaven when brownfield sites are still available."

Southern Water is appealing against its planning consent refusal on the grounds that East Sussex County Council and Brighton and Hove City Council did not determine the planning application within the 16 weeks allowed by law.

John Hodgson, a spokesman for Peacehaven Residents Opposed to Urban Development, said: "This is known as twin-tracking, putting in a planning application and an appeal at the same time. It is a way of bullying local authorities, telling them 'Make a favourable decision and we will withdraw our appeal'."

A spokeswoman for Southern Water said: "We are currently continuing our discussions with the local authorities."

The appeal is with the Planning Inspectorate at Bristol, which has a huge backlog of appeals of between 18 months and two years, while the duplicate application is due to be heard in the new year by Brighton and Hove City and East Sussex County Councils.

Monday, October 31, 2005