Ambitious proposals have been submitted for a new sludge handling centre in Oxford.
The water company is additionally seeking approval for an air pumping station at the same location, along with provisional access routes and an earth mound on land at and neighbouring the Oxford Sewage Treatment Works to screen the development from view.
This structure will accommodate equipment that forces air into the treatment tanks, a vital element of the purification process.
The facility will also include a traditional Dutch-style barn structure to hold processing equipment that conditions, stabilises and decreases the amount of solid waste extracted during treatment.
The earthworks will simultaneously establish fresh ecological areas achieving an 87 percent improvement in biodiversity, substantially surpassing the mandated 10 percent requirement.
Authorization applies solely to construction of the structure, since the equipment installation falls under previously approved development consent.
This initiative represents one of multiple significant proposals planned for the southern section of Grenoble Road.
The adopted local planning document, valid until 2035, designates this area for roughly 3,000 residential units, a minimum of 10 hectares for commercial use incorporating expansion of the Oxford Science Park, and a transit hub near the A4074.
The existing facility occupies roughly 17.5 hectares near Grenoble Road in the Sandford vicinity.
The plant handles waste and water treatment for a community equivalent to approximately 267,000 people.
Substantial improvements to the Oxford site are being developed by the utility, with an investment exceeding £270 million.
According to the company, these upgrades will deliver considerably enhanced processing capabilities, expanded retention basins and improved discharge quality flowing into waterways.
Completion of the Grenoble Road phase is anticipated by early 2032.
According to a company representative, the proposal forms part of the £270+ million enhancement programme designed to accommodate anticipated urban expansion and enhance watercourse conditions. The organisation is directing unprecedented resources toward its most substantial infrastructure overhaul in a century and a half, prioritising customer priorities of ensuring safe potable water supplies, reducing wastage through leakage, and modernising treatment and distribution systems to safeguard aquatic environments.
Given its scale, the proposal has been submitted to the county council for determination as the statutory waste planning body.
An outcome will follow public consultation.