Two Plympton Independent councillors are ramping up their campaign to get a new wastewater treatment plant built after the return of the infamous Plympton Pong, which has plagued residents for years.

There have been more than 40,000 reactions to Cllr Terri Beer’s (Plympton Erle) Facebook posts since she raised the issue of the intensity of smells coming from the Marsh Mills wastewater treatment works on May 8.

She said everyone was “sick and tired” of the pong, which smelt like rotten eggs, as it not only affected residents as far as a mile away but also many businesses and people using the major walking and cycling trails which ran from the site.

She claims that the £33,000 pumped into the site by South West Water (SWW) last year to try and reduce the odour had not worked and put the blame firmly at the door of the 6,000-home Sherford development, which she claims is overloading the system.

“People have lived with this smell for years but it has been getting worse because of all the new development, I have nothing against more homes but this plant cannot cope with a new town the size of Sherford.”

Cllr Andrea Loveridge (Plympton Erle) said residents were contacting her every day about the smell as people could no longer sit in their gardens.

The Sherford Consortium, which is responsible for the Sherford development and works with SWW to ensure wastewater from the site is managed, including transporting it via a pumping system to the Marsh Mills site, had not replied to the councillors' request for a meeting, she said.

The plant collects sewage and wastewater from domestic and commercial properties, treats it to meet environmental standards, and discharges the clean water into the River Plym. 

Cathy Loft, who lives half a mile away in Vicarage Road, said: “Something has got to change. It has got so bad that I am thinking of moving out of Plympton. I often have to get up in the middle of the night to shut the windows because the smell is nauseating. It really is very severe now.”

Another resident said when they got home from work, the smell was “trapped inside their house”.

One local business owner, who chose to stay anonymous, said the odour was a real struggle for businesses, and it was not what anyone wanted near a high-profile cycle path. They said they admired Cllr Beer for “not taking the heat off” on this matter.

Sometimes perfume is sprayed into the air by the water company, but “it’s just masking the problem”, they said.

Leighton Rose, who runs a paint stripping business near the treatment plant, said he had lived with the smell for 21 years, and some days it was worse than others when the wind was blowing in a certain direction.

“That’s how people find me, “ he said. “I just tell them to follow the smell.”

South West Water upgraded its Marsh Mills site last year in a bid to reduce the smell and limit the risk of sewage spills during heavy rainfall. It has previously improved the plant to cope with extra capacity and installed fans to deal with odour.

The company told MP Rebecca Smith during her visit to the site that sewage flowing through the system slowly was causing the smell, and as more people got their keys to new properties in Sherford and flushed the loos, the rotten egg smell should reduce.

South West Water said in a reply to Cllr Beer a few days ago that they would work with the Sherford Consortium to “bring this matter to a resolution”.

The company said: “I can confirm that we are in regular contact with the Sherford Consortium regarding this matter. We have mitigated against these odours from our assets, demonstrated by a £33K investment at Marsh Mills sewage treatment works last year to upgrade our odour control.

“We now need the Sherford Consortium to be fully compliant to further our investigations, hence why we have sent them a letter following up on several recommendations for them to action agreed in a meeting that SWW had with them in January. 

“These recommendations include cleansing of the pump station, dosing of the wet well and a change to how the pump and pipework is configured.”

South West Devon MP Rebecca Smith said she dealt with many emails from constituents who were fed up with the terrible odours.

“I regularly meet with South West Water, and have visited the treatment works at Marsh Mills wastewater treatment works, to raise constituents’ concerns,” she said.

“I have also worked closely with councillors on this, offering to arrange a meeting with them, South West Water and Sherford Consortium.

“I am particularly concerned by the increased occurrence of strong odours since works began at Sherford. South West Water has invested in measures to reduce the smells, installing several fans, and believes the issue should improve as more homes at Sherford become occupied and the system reaches normal operating levels. I know how much these odours affect Plympton residents’ daily lives, and I want to see this issue resolved as quickly as possible.

“I will monitor progress closely. I encourage any constituents which have personal issues with sewage and wastewater to get in touch by email – [email protected]“