Bury St Edmunds to Haverhill pipeline

We’re building a new 6.8km water pipeline between Hundon and Great Wratting in Suffolk.

We’re committed to providing reliable and resilient sewerage and water services to you and four million other residents in our region. That’s why we’re planning a project to install 6.8km of new water pipes.

The pipeline is just one part of an interconnected network of pipes we are constructing across the region, as set out in our Water Resources Management Plan so everyone has access to safe, clean, and plentiful water for years to come.

If you would like to know more about our Strategic Pipeline programme you can see our plans on our website here.

What’s happening now?

We started 1.5km of archaeological digs along the route in June to make sure we don’t disturb anything important when we install the new pipe. These digs are planned to be finished by December 2023.

Last summer we carried out investigative digs along the new pipeline to help us understand the ground conditions, plan our work, and find any existing underground utilities. We’ve also completed various surveys of the area including an ecology survey to make sure the work won’t have an effect on any important habitats or species.

We plan to start the main work in April 2024 and expect to be finished in December 2024.

Our traffic management

Where	What	When
School Road, Great Wratting	Traffic lights	Complete
Church Lane, Barnardiston	Road closure	Complete
Chimney Street, Hundon	Road closure	Complete
Folley Road, Hundon	Road closure	Complete
Hall Road/Upper North Street, Hundon	Road closure	Complete
Folly Road	Speed reduction to 30mph	29 August 2023 – 21 June 2024
A143	Speed reduction to 30mph	October until December 2023
A143	Speed reduction to 30mph	April 2024 until Summer 2024

Facts and FAQs

What have we done so far?

We have completed ecological surveys in the area along the route which will help us design the pipeline and put mitigation in place to avoid disturbance as much as possible.

How are you planning the route?

We’ve been planning this route for a while and we have taken into account information provided by many stakeholders, while refining the route accordingly. As we've designed the route we've also considered the local environmental, ecological, archaeological, engineering, community and landowner needs and expectations.

We will continue to work with local communities and landowners throughout the construction and commissioning of this scheme.

What is a Water Resources Management Plan?

Every five years we write our Water Resource Management Plan (WRMP) which sets out how we will manage the water supplies in our region to meet current and future needs over a minimum of 25 years.

Our 2019 WRMP considers four key challenges:

Climate change – as the East of England is very dry
Environmental protection – we have to reduce our abstraction of water in sensitive areas
Population growth – we are the fastest growing area in the UK which means there’s increased water demand
Drought – we need to plan for greater resilience in the face of drought

Will my water supply be affected?

There may be an impact to your water supply when we connect the new pipeline to the existing network, if needed it will be for no longer than 3 hours and you will be notified beforehand.

What hours will you be working?

Our normal working hours will be between 07:30 – 18:30, Monday to Fridays, with occasional weekend working.

How will you protect biodiversity?

Maintaining a mixed and diverse range of tree/bush/shrub species is important as it provides food and shelter for different bugs and wildlife. The more diverse the species, the healthier the environment.

We have collected detailed information about the location of sensitive sites along the route, all the information we collect and assess helps to ensure we mitigate and manage our impacts.

How can I save water?

Anglian Water serves the driest region in the UK. With increasingly unpredictable weather patterns it is even more important to save water where we can, and we want to help you do just that. Click here to order your free water saving kit.

Who can we help?

If you need practical support, our Priority Services Register is here for you. It’s completely free, and once you’ve signed up, you can stay on it for as long as you like. We can help a really wide range of people, from those with sight, hearing, or mobility difficulties, to parents with babies under 12 months old. And we offer a wide range of support, from reading your meter for you (if you find this difficult), to sending out bills in other formats. It’s all part of our WaterCare service.

We can support lots of people, in lots of different ways. If you have any questions, or you’d like us to talk through your bill with you, please call us on 03457 919 155 or ask us to call you back.

How can I get in touch?

You can give us your feedback here.

If you have any queries about this work, you can email onealliancecustomers@anglianwater.co.uk. Alternatively, you can contact our 24/7 customer services helpline on 03457 145 145.

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Hundon to Great Wratting pipeline