Deptford's Stinking Bishop?

Thames Water has begun the second phase of its public consultation on its plan to build an access tunnel off Deptford Church Street for the Thames Tunnel super sewer project, which gave rise to a local campaign called Stop the Stink. The plans will mean some disruption during the construction and the permanent legacy of some large pipes sticking out of the ground.

Here's the location:

And here's what Thames Water says it will look like once they're done with it:

The proximity of the church doesn't bother BC too much. The plans are fairly unobtrusive and London's ancient buildings sit side by side with all sorts of odd things, which adds to the city's higgledy-piggledy charm. For us, the bigger issues are the disruption caused by the works, the loss of green space and of course, the threat of stink.

In relation to the loss of space, the proposals state:

"The site would be returned as an open space once construction works have been completed, and we have illustrated the potential for an enhanced space to be created for the benefit of the local community. We would work with the local community and council during the development of our design and
construction to work up the detail of the space.

"The majority of the proposed permanent works on this site would be below or at ground level, so would not significantly affect the amount of open space available at the site. All of the existing trees located in the centre of the site would be lost, but high quality tree planting would form part of the enhanced space to be created."

Of the stink itself (bearing in mind that as a riverside community, Deptford ought to gain from a raw sewage-free river), the planners' response is:


"Odour effects at this site are expected to be negligible because we have developed an Air management plan to minimise possible odour and air quality effects arising from the operation of the tunnel. The technology we are proposing to use at this site includes the use of passive below ground carbon filters that will remove possible odour before air leaves the ventilation equipment."

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