Anglian Water officials will be taking part in a special Langdyke online event about the pipeline plans affecting much of the area at the moment – including the Etton Maxey reserve.
The special event – on Thursday, April 27 using Zoom – will also give Trust members the chance to ask questions about the work the water company is doing.
Large areas of farmland around the area have already been taken over by the work – with the Etton Maxey reserve one of the next to be affected.
Discussions have been taking place with Anglian Water for some time about the route of the pipeline (pictured on the map above) to minimise the effect it will have on nature at the reserve.
The work is part of a new 90km water pipeline running between Peterborough, Grantham and Bexwell, near Downham Market. Much of the early work has already started alongside the main A15 in the fields around Etton, Glinton and Maxey.
Contractors for Anglian Water will be moving on to the Etton Maxey to prepare the route with work continuing for more than a year.
Langdyke has been closely involved in the planning process with talks being led by David Cowcill and chair Richard Astle.
The special online session will be with Dan Stewart from Anglian Water. He will be making a presentation and taking questions from Langydke members about the major project. Topics he is likely to cover will include the authority’s efforts to safeguard nature despite the major upheaval the project will cause.
There will also be a chance for you to submit questions with at the time or ahead of the meeting. To do so please email events@langdyke.org.uk
To take part in this Zoom session you will need to click here at the time of the meeting (7pm) or copy the following link into your web browser https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82083209155?pwd=N2NtTUl6dW9MSkhNYVY1SUdnNEZrZz09
David sets out below the background to the work …
Key Points
Anglian Water has already started work in March on a significant pipeline which routes down the eastern edge of the Etton Maxey Reserve.
Initially there will be a large compound in the SE (Etton end) corner nearest Maxey Cut of about 40 x 100 metres – on the South Paddock. Access to the South Hide will continue.
In mid to late 2024 the main pipeline will be installed – all the way from north to south along the eastern side of the paddocks, adjacent to the Etton-Maxey Road, but not disturbing the hedgerow. The car park will be closed but access to the reserve will be maintained except for 2-3 weeks of the main pipe installation. There may be some disruption to the road access from Maxey to Etton.
Mitigations for the impacts during the construction phase have been agreed. Restoration to be completed by 2025 should ensure a bio-diversity net gain and a features gain on the reserve.
If you have any queries please initially contact David Cowcill, Manager of the Eastern Reserves at dcowcill@aol.com.
Background to the work
To safeguard strategic water supply, Anglian Water is building 95 kms of large diameter pipeline from Grantham (Lincs) to Bexhill (Suffolk) – via Etton.
The pipeline will deliver water under gravity from a surplus in the Lincolnshire Wolds to a shortage area in East Anglia, reducing extraction from local aquifers and chalk streams.
Work can already be seen underway along the pipeline route – archaeology investigations, fencing and preparatory work, and tunnelling works.
The proposal has been subject of the largest planning application seen in recent times, during which much evaluation has taken place of the pipeline route from the north west of Market Deeping into (and out of) the Etton Waterworks.
Despite Langdyke Trust’s officers best efforts the preferred route, now pretty much fixed, runs through the edge of the restored Maxey Quarry, and hence North to South down the eastern edge of the Etton Maxey Reserve. The pipeline has to cross or tunnel under all the local hazards – River Welland, Maxey Cut, High Pressure Gas Pipeline(s) and the A15 on its way to the east.
Work will start soon in March/April 2023, with the main trench action in 2024 and completion of remediation in 2025.
There are two different elements to the work affecting the reserve:
A trenchless compound
In the SE corner adjacent to Maxey Cut, a base area will be created to receive a tunnelled (trenchless) pipe to be drilled under Maxey Cut and the Maxey Road from the opposite quadrant south of the Cut.
Preparatory work will start in March/April 2023, tunnelling later in the year.
This will cover an area about 40 x 100 metres with aggregate to be removed later.
The area will be fenced off from the start and the pedestrian gate will be moved (probably to the north a little) to retain access across the reserve and for the S Hide.
A gap will be cut into the hedge for vehicle and materials access, and reinstated. (This would most likely happen anyway when the final stage of quarrying takes place across Maxey Road).
The main pipeline
The pipe will run North to South approximately on the brow of the slope of the paddocks.
The construction process needs a working width of 30-40 metres as room for the pipeline trench, a construction roadway and areas to segregate and store topsoil and subsoils.
The working area will be fenced off from early 2024, but access to the reserve will be maintained except for the immediate period of trenching. The fence line will allow for movement of stock into the southern meadow.
Access for the works will be via the carpark with the entrance widened.
Restoration
Arising from the original quarry restoration the conservation value of the existing pasture along the paddocks is rather underwhelming.
We aim to take the opportunity for some variation and improvement in basic re-seeded grassland and flora, possibly butterfly banks, extra east-west hedgerow on the north boundary, and “payment” features for public access in terms of renewed bridges and dipping platforms.
All other features of the reserve will be reinstated – eg the cattle crush, the car park area and hedgerow gaps.
Mitigations
Peterborough City Council (through the Minerals and Wildlife Officers) are an integral part of the management of the reserve and have been very helpful in safeguarding the protected species on the reserve.
The Otters and Water Voles are considered not affected – their habitats are not expected to be impacted (but we will maintain a watch out); the four-spotted moth requires that Anglian Water relocate and replace the field bindweed in the SE corner during the period of the works; we have already taken action to spread the turtle dove feeding areas across the reserve (birds already seen at the mitigation sites in 2022) such that when the carpark is off limits in 2024 their summer season breeding and migration will not be at risk. These are legal requirements.
Overall outlook
Here in John Clare Country we are already at the centre of a snakepit of water and gas pipelines. The long term perspective is that they eventually disappear from view – who would know there is a large gas pipeline under the grassland of Vergette Wood Meadow for instance, with its over 120 botanical species.
So having lost the battle of the route, we feel that we can turn this into an opportunity to increase biodiversity, provided the mitigations and restorations are carefully thought through and properly executed.
After a shaky start when we had to try very hard to ensure the natural assets and status of the Etton Maxey Reserve were properly recognised, Anglian Water are now on board and more willing to bend towards the needs of nature and our membership – rather than the need to “cut and cover” with all speed.
There will inevitably be some disruption that members may feel an inconvenience and/or objectionable result – but the die is cast and we can only seek the best outcome for our reserve in the long term.
Any problems or questions – please let David Cowcill know by email – dcowcill@aol.com
If anyone wants to look at all the proposed pipeline details the best source is the Planning Application on the Peterborough City Council website under reference 22/00275/FUL – only 213 documents! The total route can be seen at Figure 12.2.1 (Etton Maxey pages 16 and 17).