The quiet Cambridgeshire market town being blighted by a 'foul stench' of sewage
The market town of March is prepared to go to war with Anglian Water over a foul stench, with business owners and residents complaining of being unable to open their windows.
“The odour off it makes you gag; I work with toilets 7 days a week. It’s nothing like that smell up there… It does make you gag”, says Mark – who lives just a stone’s throw from Anglian’s March Water Recycling Centre.
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He is not alone. The beautiful, quiet Cambridgeshire market town of March is being blighted by a “foul stench” which residents claim lingers 24/7, 365 days a year - even on Christmas day.
“You sit in your garden, you're just having a nice cup of coffee, or you're having your tea outside because it's nice weather, and it'll waft at you and it hits you like a freight train”. The stench is no trivial matter for Gary who lives near the site.
The March Water Recycling Centre is located at the end Creek Fen, a small single track road which is now riddled with potholes, and is even dipping as a result of the heavy convoy of transport which uses the lane daily.
Residents claim that a minimum of 30-40 lorries, trucks and tankers use the road each day delivering ‘sewage cake’ to the site to be mixed with lime and later used as fertiliser for farmers. They complain that huge quantities of the sewage cake arrive on often open-top lorries (sometimes covered with a sheet) leading to the smell to not only permeate the area but dominate the air.
Debbie owns a local go-karting track which has just received planning permission for 5 luxury ‘glamping pods’ and a wellness centre. The plans will be within half an acre of nature gardens and will act as a wellness retreat.
She feels as thought it is “one rule for them, and one for us” after having spent “two years trying to obtain planning” and plan “reports on vehicle movements” whilst the water firm allow large vehicles to operate freely – not to mention the smell.
Debbie says it is “horrendous” and evidently will impact any wellness centre given it is at the mercy of a reeking water recycling plant. She also claims the whiff is so potent that she, and other residents, can 'taste' it.
March has a population of just over 20,000, it boats historic churches such as St Wendreda but many say their once-idyllic home is now an albatross around their neck.
Gillian is hosting the residents meeting - which, in fairness, saw two members of Anglian water attend and field a barrage of questions for over an hour. She says that “there’s no way we’d have bought this piece of land had we known” about the increase in activity. Adding that she estimates losing £30-40k.
“This was suppose to be our retirement property, and we’re not enjoying our retirement because we can’t go out in the garden”.
Asked what it smells of, she unequivocally responds: “diarrhoea”.
At the meeting Anglian Water promised to look at a variety of issues – including the use of the site on weekends, bank holidays and on weekdays beyond 6pm. “We’re listening”, a representative from the firm explained.
Others who preferred not to be named said they had experienced vibrations at their house from the lorries, spillages of sewage cake on the lane and verges, and large vehicles pulling into people’s driveways to allow other lorries to pass.
Concerns have been raised about curtains and soft furnishings in people’s homes beginning to smell. Complaining that they cant open doors and windows in order to let the smell in, and refusing to hang washing on the line outside due you – you guessed it – smelling of sewage as a result.
Rob is a councillor on March town Council and lambasted the “foul” situation for those who “can’t even go outside to have a barbecue on the weekend”, as well as those who have seen their house prices fall and are “stuck with the stench”.
He draws attention to a local playing field at Estover which runs football, netball and other sports for children who will “constantly have to smell it” due to it being within spitting distance of the site. “We’re living back in the 18th century — it's terrible… and people’s dogs walking through the spills of sewage cake”. He called for Anglian to build a new site in the “middle of a field” so it’s “out the way” of people.
LBC recently revealed that Anglian Water, who supply almost 7 million customers, have a CEO in Mark Thurston who received a total package of £1.86 million last year despite a ban on water boss bonuses. The firm recorded 1,000 pollution incidents last year, the highest total of any water company in more than a decade.
In response to Mr Thurston’s pay, a spokesperson for Anglian Water said: “The Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer roles operate across the whole of the Anglian Water Group, which includes businesses which are separate to the water company and which carry out a range of commercial activities and generate annual revenues of around £800 million. Payments from the group are not in any way funded by customers”.
In response to the March Water Recycling Centre, Anglian Water representatives present said that “heard” the concerns of residents and were “determined” to alleviate their concerns.
On the odour issues, the company has previously said “This is something we need to do to safely treat the waste but it can give off an odour similar to some household cleaning products.”
“We’ll do everything we can to mask the smell – but the wind turbine near the site may carry it further afield.”