A PROPOSAL to create a new foul water treatment plant in a village beside the River Tweed is on Scottish Borders Council’s planning agenda.

An application has been submitted from Mertoun Estate Farms Ltd for the treatment plant, attenuation swale and associated works on land south of Terras at Clintmains, near Newtown St Boswells.

The applicant owns some of the existing dwellings at Clintmains and is obligated by servitude to provide others with drainage across the application site and surrounding land.

The proposal is born out necessity to improve the treatment of foul water and separate foul and surface water to improve water quality, in line with regulatory best practice.

For this reason, the existing treatment plant will be maintained for the use of surface water.

A report with the application says: “The proposal represents once in a generation investment in drainage infrastructure at Clintmains.

“The proposal is motivated by the intention to achieve water quality regulatory compliance. It is necessary to separate foul and surface water outflows in the shortest time frame possible.

“The applicant is also keen to achieve significant water attenuation capacity to protect the proposed treatment plant, existing dwellings at Clintmains, and the B6356 all the way to its adopted junction with the B6404. The proposal has been prepared to replace an existing water treatment plant owned privately by the applicant that serves almost every existing dwelling in Clintmains."

It adds: “The proposal does not comprise new substantial development on or over land. Almost all development will be contained underground, with development on the surface limited to a control cabinet.

“The proposal represents the sustainable management of foul and surface water, delivering improvement on the existing provision which is now beyond its serviceable life and has become obsolete.”