Last updated 12:07, Friday, 22 August 2008
A COPELAND village could soon be free to flush away its troubles.
But plans are in place to connect around 50 homes in the village and the nearby Hycemoor community up to the main sewage system.
The plans are in line with a national scheme to connect rural areas to the system. Bootle parish councillors met representatives from water company United Utilities on Wednesday to discuss the issue.
Parish councillor Tony James said: “Nearly half the council met the representatives. This was an explanatory meeting with the council and the wider community will be informed in time.
“It is part of a nationwide plan. They are moving through the area gradually to connect everyone up.
“I think some properties will be glad to be connected up and others won’t be bothered.
“They will now go away and formulate and re-calculate some of their initial ideas and we will see what will happen.
“I don’t know when we will be meeting again – they will be in contact with us some time in the future.”
The village sits in the shadow of its bigger neighbour, Bootle, three miles away, which already has fully connected plumbing.
The village is one of the last in the area to be connected to the national sewage system. A spokesman from United Utilities said: “This was a constructive meeting with elected members to discuss a proposal to connect local properties to the main sewer system.
“The scheme would cover around 50 properties in Hycemoor village and around Bootle Station.
“These properties are currently served by septic tanks. As well as improving convenience for customers, a switch to mains sewerage also stands to improve the quality of wastewater being discharged into the local water course, which would help the local environment.
“No decisions have been taken yet, and United Utilities will be carrying out a feasibility study over the next month to explore the technical aspects of the proposal.”
