Maple Cross

Maple Cross
Maple Cross  Maple Cross shown within Hertfordshire
Population	2,000 (approx)
OS grid reference	TQ034929
District	Three Rivers
Shire county	Hertfordshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	RICKMANSWORTH
Postcode district	WD3 9
Dialling code	01923
Police	Hertfordshire
Fire	Hertfordshire
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	South West Hertfordshire
List of places UK England Hertfordshire

Maple Cross is a village in Hertfordshire, England with a large proportion of the housing being either council owned or previously council owned. The area is served by junction 17 of the M25 motorway, which makes up one of the boundaries of the village. It lies about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) west of Watford.

Commercial

Many multi-national businesses have offices in Maple Cross. The UK headquarters of construction company Skanska is based here. The corporate functions of the combined Cadbury and Trebor Bassett confectionery business moved to the area in 2000. Other businesses with offices include Nissan and Renault.

Schools

Maple Cross has one school, Maple Cross JMI, located on the main thoroughfare, Denham Way. Secondary education is generally provided for in Rickmansworth, Watford or Harefield (London).

Transport

Maple Cross is bound by the M25 motorway. The areas main thoroughfare, Denham Way also forms part of the A412.

One road in Maple Cross was named Bradbery, by the Three Rivers District Council in the 1960s. This was to commemorate William Bradbery, the watercress pioneer from West Hyde.

The area is served by the Greenline route 724 which runs from Heathrow Airport to Harlow, Essex via Watford and the local Arriva #6 which begins in Maple Cross and runs to Hemel Hempstead via Watford. The bus route R21 runs from Mount Vernon Hospital via Harefield and Rickmansworth. It normally terminates at Maple Cross, but extends its journey to Uxbridge twice per day via Denham.

Maple Lodge sewage treatment plant

Maple Cross is the location of the Thames Water Maple Lodge Sewage Treatment Works. The plant, with its sister site at Blackbirds Farm in Aldenham serve the whole of West Hertfordshire; an area with a population of 557,000 people.

The sewage plant's claim to fame is its use as a storage facility for perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) used to extinguish the fire at the Buncefield Oil Terminal. Sludge from the plant was also burnt to generate "green" electricity for the Millennium Dome.

The plant was used in 1952 to test diffused aeration technology and a diffused-air activated sludge purification system has been in continuous use since. The cleaned effluent from this process is discharged into the nearby Grand Union Canal.

Sludge settled from the incoming sewage is treated by retention in enclosed heated anaerobic digestion tanks, a by-product of this process being methane gas which is used for on-site electrical power generation. The main product, digested sludge, is "caked" in industrial centrifuges before disposal to land as fertiliser.

Maple Lodge Nature Reserve

There is a nature reserve on Thames Water owned land formerly used for gravel extraction that is adjacent to the sewage treatment plant. It covers 40 acres and includes lakes and wetlands that provide a habitat for wildfowl and nine Bird hides. The reserve is leased to the Maple Lodge Conservation Society that was founded in 1983. Access is normally restricted to members of the society but there is an open weekend in May.