A controversial sewage scheme near the Westward Ho! bathing beach in North Devon has been given the go-ahead by the High Court.
The court backed a compulsory purchase order issued by the Secretary of State, rejecting arguments that the South West Water scheme would pollute water and endanger the environment around the town of Abbotsham.
Dismissing the objections, Owen J said that there was an urgent need for a new sewage-disposal system and a more environmentally favourable position had not been identified. The greater good of the local community required that the scheme proceed, he said.
The proposed scheme is for a short-sea outfall involving the discharge of treated sewage some five hundred metres from the Abbotsham-Cornborough shore at high water, close to the Westward Ho! bathing beach.
PLS News 4/10/99
