Northampton - To Develop The Grand Union Canal Transfer
What is planned?
SECTIONS 47 and 48 OF THE PLANNING ACT 2008
REGULATION 4 OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING (APPLICATIONS: PRESCRIBED FORMS AND PROCEDURE) REGULATIONS 2009
NOTICE OF PUBLICATION OF A STATEMENT OF COMMUNITY CONSULTATION AND NOTICE PUBLICISING A PROPOSED APPLICATION FOR A DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDER FOR THE GRAND UNION CANAL TRANSFER
Notice is hereby given that Severn Trent PLC (company number 02366619) of Severn Trent Centre, 2 St John's Street, Coventry, CV1 2LZ; Affinity Water Ltd (company number 02546950) of Tamblin Way, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9EZ and Canal & River Trust (company number 07807276) of National Waterways Museum Ellesmere Port, South Pier Road, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England, CH65 4FW (hereby referred to as “the Applicant”) proposes to make an application (“the Application”) to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under Section 37 of the Planning Act 2008 (“the 2008 Act”) for a Development Consent Order (“the DCO Application”) for the construction, operation and maintenance of the Grand Union Canal Transfer (“the Proposed Development”). The Proposed Development is a water transfer scheme to move a maximum flow of 115 megalitres/day from Severn Trent to Affinity Water’s supply areas. The Secretary of State issued a direction under section 35 of the 2008 Act on 1 October 2024 which confirmed that the Proposed Development is to be treated as a nationally significant infrastructure project requiring development consent. Note: A final decision on whether Canal & River Trust will be a formal co-applicant will be made before the DCO is submitted.
The Proposed Development
The Proposed Development will principally consist of:
a new Advanced Water Treatment Plant located on Severn Trent’s existing site, on land south-east of the Minworth Wastewater Recycling Centre;
an approximately 15-kilometre (km) buried pipeline between the Minworth Wastewater Recycling Centre and a proposed outfall near Atherstone (including a Break Pressure Tank near Baxterley);
a range of new infrastructure, including up to four new locks, new pumped and gravity bypasses, some sections of bank raising and modifications to existing infrastructure, to manage flow velocities and water level changes on the existing canal network between Atherstone and Bletchley;
new and improved infrastructure at the existing Daventry and Drayton Reservoirs, to enable their utilisation as additional storage in addition to their function of supplying water for canal navigation;
a new Water Treatment Works and water storage, south east of Milton Keynes;
an approximately 28 km buried pipeline between the new Water Treatment Works and an existing underground reservoir near Luton; and
associated infrastructure, mitigation and enhancement measures, and other ancillary works, for example, fencing, security, temporary access roads, permanent means of access, highway works, temporary works compounds and work sites.
The proposed DCO will, amongst other things, authorise:
construction, operation and maintenance of the infrastructure required to facilitate the Proposed Development;
if required, the temporary stopping up, alteration or diversion of any street, road or public right of way;
if required, the permanent and/or temporary compulsory acquisition of land and/or rights for the Proposed Development;
if required, the application and/or disapplication of legislation relevant to the Proposed Development; and
such ancillary, incidental and consequential provisions, licenses, property rights, permits and consents as are necessary for the purposes of the Proposed Development.
The Proposed Development is an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) development for the purposes of the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017. As a result, the Applicant is required to carry out an EIA and submit and publish an Environmental Statement (ES) as part of the Application containing a detailed description of the Proposed Development and information about its likely significant effects on the environment.
Statutory Consultation
Consultation on the proposals will take place from Wednesday 11 February to 11:59pm on Thursday 2 April 2026.
The full suite of consultation materials which includes documents, a Preliminary Environmental Information Report, plans, and maps which show the nature and location of the Proposed Development will be available for inspection free of charge on the Applicant’s website,
(within the ‘Resources’ section), for the full duration of the consultation. The Applicant’s Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC), which sets out how the Applicant will undertake its consultation, is also available to inspect free of charge on the Applicant’s website.
All consultation materials will also be available to view at the public information events, select materials will also be available for inspection free of charge at several document inspection points along the route. More information on document inspection points can be found on the Applicant’s website.
Printed copies of the brochure and feedback form are available free of charge (one set per household) on request. Printed copies of all other consultation documents are available on request, although there may be a charge for this up to £3,500.
Requests for alternative formats of consultation materials such as translations into other languages, large print or Braille will be considered on a case-by-case basis. To request paper copies or versions in an alternative format, please contact contact@guctransfer.co.uk or via phone on 0121 270 5920.
Public information events
A series of in-person public information events (and one online event) are being held across the area of the Proposed Development where people can find out more about the scheme and ask questions of the project team.
A full programme of the public information events can be found in the SoCC and on the Applicant’s website
Feedback
Responses must be received between Wednesday 11 February and 11:59pm on Thursday 2 April 2026. Responses received after this time may not be considered.
All responses must be made in writing by:
a. Completing the online feedback form located on the Applicant’s website:
;
b. Obtaining a paper copy of the consultation feedback form by requesting one using the contact details in this notice, which can be returned via Freepost GRAND UNION CANAL TRANSFER (no stamp needed)
c. Alternatively, feedback in a letter or email format can be sent to us by:
i. Emailing:
ii. Writing to us: Freepost GRAND UNION CANAL TRANSFER (no stamp needed)
The Applicant will consider and have regard to all responses received as part of this consultation when developing the Application once the consultation has closed.
Personal details will be held securely and only used for purposes in connection with the consultation, the DCO process and further development of the Proposed Development. Outside of these purposes, the Applicant may be required to provide personal details if specifically requested as part of a Freedom of Information Act request or if the Planning Inspectorate requests original responses. Otherwise, personal details will not be disclosed to any third parties. For further details please see our Privacy Notice at:
privacy-policy/
A hard copy of the privacy notice can be requested using the contact details below.
If further information about this notice, the consultation materials, the consultation or the Proposed Development is required, please contact the project team by using one of these contact methods:
Email:
Write: Freepost GRAND UNION CANAL TRANSFER
Telephone: 0121 270 5920, Monday to Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm
Need to publish a public notice?
If you need to publish a public notice, please contact Daventry Express directly at:
