New reservoir for drinking water set to be built in Scarborough
A new reservoir for drinking water is set to be built in Scarborough.
A new reservoir for drinking water is set to be built in Scarborough.
Scarborough Council today agreed to sell a piece of land off Lightfoots Road to Yorkshire Water so it could build the new facility.
The in principle decision was taken by the authority’s portfolio holder for Inclusive Growth, Cllr Liz Colling.
A report prepared for Cllr Colling stated that if the council had not agreed to the sale then Yorkshire Water could have used a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) in order to force it through.
The report stated:
“Yorkshire Water are classified as a special purchaser and have the right to compulsory purchase land for essential infrastructure works as a statutory authority.
“In this case, they have approached us to agree terms on a private treaty basis and have agreed to pay a price over and above the base agricultural value of the land required in order to avoid the CPO process, which is slow and expensive to pursue.
“It is somewhat incumbent on the council to facilitate essential infrastructure works for the benefit of the borough and residents.”
Scarborough Council had previously agreed to sell the land to Yorkshire Water in 2011 but the company chose not to proceed.
The previous agricultural tenant of the land gave notice to give it up in October.
The report prepared for Cllr Colling laid out the reason the new facility is needed.
It stated:
“There are two existing Service Reservoirs located at Springhill accessed from Springhill Lane, the first and bigger of the two was built in 1927 and the second reservoir was built in 1972.
“Service reservoirs provide a holding facility for treated drinking water to be stored during the day prior to distribution. In addition, they provide stored reserves in the event of a burst or demand by the fire service. The existing Springhill Service Reservoirs provide a critical link in the clean water distribution network for the local area.
“A new service reservoir is required because the existing facility’s design life has expired and it is no longer fit for purpose.
“A new site is needed for the replacement reservoir because there is insufficient space available on the existing site to construct the new reservoir while maintaining the water supply during construction, as the existing asset cannot be taken out of service until a new facility is in place.”