THE Thames Water sewage treatment works at Crossness in Abbey Wood is to expand.

This will provide an extra plant to treat dry weather sewage to a higher standard and treat more storm flow sewage to help improve water quality in the Thames.

But concerns remain about increased smells from the sewage works as a result of the expansion.

And conservationists are worried it will impact on wildlife in the proposed expansion site and say the replacement habitat being offered by the company is not adequate.

The company has got planning permission from Bexley Council to build an inlet pumping station and a preliminary treatment area with a conditioning and washing plant.

The plans also include tanks where sewage can be stored so elements such as sewage sludge and fat can be separated and removed and a secondary treatment area with final settlement tanks and a blower house and pumping station.

There will also be a sludge thickening and handling plant, several smaller sub-stations and other buildings, plus internal roads and an odour management plant.

These will be built on 20 acres within the boundaries of the existing Crossness site on its eastern side and will see the number of workers rise from 30 to 52.

Belvedere councillor Daniel Francis expressed concerns to Bexley Council’s planning control committee, reminding them it was only a few years ago Bexley took Thames Water to court over the appalling smells from the works.

But a council public protection officer said it had been working closely with the company and was satisfied it could achieve a 7.5 per cent reduction in smells from the site.

This would cut the number of people affected by smells from the plant by 41 per cent.

Jeremy Cotton from Bexley’s natural environment focus group was concerned about the disappearance of Thames marshes due to the development, and with it the habitat for birds and other wildlife.

He urged the company to restore nearby degraded marshland areas to compensate for this.

The development site contains lagoons and protected species such as water voles and barn owls, but Thames Water’s experts say the new habitat will be an improvement.