The Worshipful Company of Water Conservators has offered to provide the government’s New Towns Task Force with a detailed briefing on regulations governing water use and waste water disposal, and the relevant government strategies as they relate to housing development. The briefing will be based on the Company’s submissions to DEFRA, and its responses to government and regulators’ consultations.
The offer, which has been informally accepted by the Task Force, taps into the extensive expertise and accumulated knowledge of the Company’s members, and will help the Task Force understand the complex issues involved in aligning government housing targets with sustainable water use.
The Task Force is due to report to government as early as July with recommendations on the location and delivery of large new housing developments of 10,000 homes and upwards.
The Company has also urged the Task Force to consider a range of issues. They include the shortage of water at the eastern end of the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, targeted by the government for significant development; the need for more co-ordinated planning around housing developments, involving infrastructure providers like water companies, local authorities, developers and others; and the difficulty of forecasting future demand for water from commercial customers, especially data centres.
The Company has also suggested a review of Section 106 of the 1991 Water Industry Act which gives developers the right to connect to sewers; long overdue action by government to implement regulations on sustainable drainage systems (SUDS); and the need to involve farmers in the better management of water resources on agricultural land.
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