Huge water pipeline project set to be decided at local level

The UK government will not take over the planning process for two controversial sections of a new water pipeline from the Lake District to Lancashire and Greater Manchester.
The £1.75 billion (€2 billion) Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Project (HARP) will replace deteriorating 70-plus-year-old water mains to keep water flowing through the 110-kilometre pipeline.
Seven councils have approved the planning applications for the upgrade from United Utilities. They include Hyndburn and Rossendale.
However, two controversial sections of the pipeline in Ribble Valley borough through the Forest of Bowland area of outstanding natural beauty have yet to be finally decided on by the authority’s planning committee.
They include work around Marl Hill and Newton-in-Bowland, Waddington Fell Quarry, Bonstone and Braddup. Plans include tunnelling, rural road widening, work compounds, HGV lorry routes and temporary bridges built across the rivers Ribble and Hodder.
Final approval of the Ribble Valley HARP works was put on hold after a request was made for Michael Gove, The Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and Communities, to call in the applications for scrutiny.
Now he has decided against doing that and returned decisions on the scheme to the council. In making his decision, Mr Gove made clear that he had carefully considered the call-in policy and is happy for these matters to be considered at a local level.