Villagers enduring a rotten stench may soon be able to open their windows again under new plans for an improved sewage system.
Two new sewage pumping stations could be coming to agricultural land in Toot Baldon, five miles southeast of Oxford.
Plans lodged by Thames Water seek to provide public sewers for more than 50 properties within the village.
Two separate planning applications have been submitted, one for a South Sewage Pumping Station (SPS) development and another for a North SPS development.
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Properties in the village are not connected to mains sewage with householders using private drainage which consists mostly of septic tanks.
In a planning statement, Thames Water said: “There is clear evidence of significant environmental and amenity problems with the existing private sewerage systems in the village.
“Residents have reported problems as a result of failing septic tanks and the ground water level is frequently excessively high for proper operation of soakage field systems.”
The company also referenced reports of “odour problems” and “pollution of ditches and watercourses”.
Toot Baldon has a population of around 150 with a Roman road passing through parishes where Roman pottery and coins have been found.
The new sewage pumping stations would include "a motor control centre, dosing plant, and air ventilation bollard".
The South SPS development would cover 2966 square metres of green belt land on farmland approximately midway between the A4074 and the B480.
The North SPS system would lie to the east of Old School Road running through Baldon Row, and would cover 1,148 square metres of agricultural land.
Thames Water has said it considered alternative options such as upgrading the existing Nuneham Courtney Sewage Treatment Works (STW) to take on the Toot Baldon flows.
But the company stated that in this case the STW did not have available capacity.
It was confirmed in the end that capacity for the Toot Baldon flow existed in the nearby Garsington sewerage catchment, which drains to Oxford STW.
Thames Valley Police has not issued any objections to the applications and an arboriculture impact assessment statement says most trees will unaffected by the proposed works.
Septic tank systems are a type of simple onsite sewage facility that are used more often in rural areas.
Main sewage systems consist of networks of pipes, pumps and other components that collect and transport from various locations.
The two Toot Baldon applications are in their consultation periods with a target decision date set for January 8, 2024 as stated on the public planning portal.
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