Provincial funding flushes away wastewater in Lucan-Biddulph, triggers development

Lucan’s sewage treatment plant received funding to expand sewage system, allowing for more home development. CTV London’s Bryan Bicknell reports.

Lucan-Biddulph is bursting at the seams when it comes to development, according to township Mayor Cathy Burghardt-Jesson.

“So essentially growth has stalled,” she said.

“Somebody comes to the office today and wants to apply for something new, because we have no more room in our treatment plant,” she said.

Developed in the late 1980s for population projections at that time, the township’s wastewater treatment plant is currently operating at 104 per cent capacity.

But not for much longer, as the community is about to become flush with development and cash.

Lambton Kent Middlesex MPP Steve Pinsonneault visited the plant Friday to announce more than $17.6 million in provincial funding to expand the waste-water treatment plant.

The expansion will allow for construction of 1,000 new homes.

“And it does seem like people are flocking to come here,” said Pinsonneault.

“It’s just close enough to London that you’re having a lot of people moving in here from London. People are retiring, want to get out of the city, are coming here. It’s a beautiful little community,” he said.

While it’s positive news for local rate-payers, every time a bedroom community of London expands, some London politicians grow a little more nervous. They worry about the potential negative impact on city infrastructure and services.

London city Counc. Steve Lehman argues the city needs to expand its urban growth boundary to accommodate population growth.

“When people live outside of London, they still continue to put pressure on our infrastructure, on our roads, etcetera. But yet, we don’t control density builds and how we want traffic to go. And we don’t collect any property taxes,” he said.

MPP Pinsonneault says London’s situation is far from unique.

“Any major city is going to have to draw from the workforce from outside of the city. So that’s not uncommon, that’s pretty well any city in Ontario,” he commented.

In the meantime, construction at the waste-water treatment plant is expected to begin late this year or early next year and will take about 18 months to complete.