I am sure many in the area and especially residents of Rockfield Village, will be interested in a recent application to Monmouthshire County Council regarding sewage.

The application is numbered 00733 and relates to application 00539 - Development of “Land West of Rockfield Road”. These are the fields opposite Ancre Hill Vineyard.

The new application seeks to: “Vary condition 12 to allow flexibility, so that there can either be a connection to Rockfield Waste Water Treatment Works, which lies North of the site, or to Rockfield Rd / Monmouth Town Sewage Pumping Station.”

Welsh Water recently objected to an application to build an additional 26 Houses on the old Troy Station site on the grounds that it would “ hydraulically overload the public sewage system and waste treatment works. Leading to pollution of the environment and risk to Public Health and Safety”

It appears to me from application 00733 that the Monmouth System is at full capacity and that this developer sees it worthwhile to seek to pump the sewage produced from their development out to little Rockfield Village for treatment before being mixed with the waters of The Monnow. I have no doubt that their fellow developers would be only too happy to share the costs of pipe work, and an upgrade to the small Rockfield Treatment works if it allows them to connect to this pipe and continue to build over the countryside north of our town.

While appreciating the need for housing, the existing strain on the sewage system demonstrates the lack of just one aspect of infrastructure that is not sufficient to support endless construction. The time must come when our community and others say: “enough is enough”

Peter Hopkins (Monmouth)