A proposed Water Recycling Project next to an Isle of Wight seaside town has been confronted with growing opposition from locals and stakeholders.
Southern Water’s plans include the building of a Water Recycling Plant on land to the south of Sandown Wastewater Treatment Works, an outfall into the Eastern Yar and a pipeline from the facility to the Eastern Yar by Alverstone.
The plans
The scheme is in response to increasing water scarcity, made worse by climate change, population growth and reduced abstraction licenses from Hampshire chalk streams, according to a statement from the private utility company’s agent, Adams Hendry.
An abstraction licence is needed to take water from an underground or surface source if more than 20 cubic metres per day is withdrawn, according to the Environment Agency.
Rising opposition
A series of letters to County Hall, including from Island Roads, the Badger Trust Isle of Wight, Sandown North Alliance councillor Debbie Andre and the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary, have set out the case against the application.
Concerns include a lack of meaningful consultation with residents and collaboration with local businesses, the plant design adversely affecting both the immediate area and surrounding green space, and lighting, noise and odour impacts during and after construction.
Other objections include ‘deficiencies’ in the applicant’s Landscape Visual Impact Assessment, conflicting statements in the application regarding the plant’s proposed capacity and ‘large-scale’ water leakage within Southern Water’s operating area.
STC: Serious reservations about the current proposal
A Sandown Town Council (STC) spokesperson said the local authority ‘strongly objects’ to the bid.
They said,
“STC acknowledges the vital need to safeguard the Isle of Wight’s drinking water supply and to lessen dependence on abstraction from the environmentally sensitive chalk rivers of Hampshire.
“While the council is not opposed in principle to water recycling as a component of a long term, sustainable and environmentally resilient approach, it holds serious reservations about the current proposal.
“STC may reasonably suggest that the application, as submitted, fails to comply with the Isle of Wight Local Plan and does not provide sufficient evidence to conclude that environmental, economic and community impacts have been adequately addressed.
“Further information, revised assessments and robust, enforceable planning conditions should be required before the proposal could be considered acceptable.”
Traffic concerns
Island Roads said the Greenwood Lane and Morton Road junction cannot safely accommodate traffic generated during the proposed pipeline’s construction phase.
Its highways representation said,
“The land necessary to provide a compliant junction is outside the control of both the applicant and the Local Highway Authority.”
Risks of not approving
Adams Hendry’s statement said alignment with policies on infrastructure, climate change, biodiversity, landscape, heritage, and sustainable development had been demonstrated. It said,
“Not delivering the proposed scheme would place continued additional pressure on the Isle of Wight, an already seriously water stressed area.
“It would risk undermining planned housing and economic growth, prolong and extend the duration of the deficit in water resources for customers and extend reliance on abstractions from Hampshire’s rivers with risks to the sensitive chalk stream habitats that the proposed scheme is actively seeking to protect.”
SW: The project has been many years in the making
Ben Ring, major projects director at Southern Water, said,
“This essential project is part of a series of schemes that will create new drought-proof sources of water.
“These new sources will help us protect Hampshire’s chalk streams, maintain supplies for our customers and provide greater resilience for the Island.
“The project has been many years in the making. Submitting the planning application to the Isle of Wight Council is a significant milestone for Southern Water and also for the UK.”
View the plans
You can view the plans on the council’s planning register (25/01619/FUL).
The public consultation runs until 5th January and a decision is due by 6th March 2026.
Article edit
4.40pm 22nd Dec 2025 – SW comment added
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
