Joined-up planning needed to prevent water shortages and pollution

Letter published by the West Sussex Gazette and West, 17 August 2022

Sir,

Communities cannot be confident that safe drinking water will always be reliably available, and sewage treated without compromising the natural environment, and that decisions taken today will not impoverish future generations

Serious water stress is defined in the Water Industry (Prescribed Conditions) Regulations 1999 as where “the current household demand for water is a high proportion of the current effective rainfall which is available to meet that demand; or the future household demand for water is likely to be a high proportion of the effective rainfall which is likely to be available to meet that demand”.

Sussex lies within a designated Serious Water Stress Area in which the prolonged lack of effective rainfall and high record-breaking temperatures in consequence of climate change, together with the failings of water companies, has resulted in the present restrictions on water usage which may continue into the next year.

And some communities in both East and West Sussex have had their water supplies cut off with residents left without tap water for several days.

In her foreword to the Environment Agency’s ‘Water and sewerage companies’ performance 2018 summary’ report published July 2019, Chair, Emma Howard Boyd, expressed her concern that “water companies cannot rely on taking water from rivers, often viewed as the cheapest option, to feed their network”; “those not scoring well are not taking enough action to prepare adequately for droughts in the short term, and are not sufficiently preparing for the long-term supply challenges of population growth and the climate crisis” – and that she is “not seeing dramatic improvements in 2019”.

Since when there have been no dramatic improvements.

The Government presumes that no matter how large the housing target or development, safe drinking water will always be provided, and sewage treated. Consequently, development plans are adopted, and planning applications permitted on that flawed and dangerous presumption.

Communities cannot therefore be confident that safe drinking water will always be reliably available, and sewage treated without compromising the natural environment, and that decisions taken today will not impoverish future generations.

Because of rapidly accelerating climate change and the reality that droughts will occur much more frequently the Government’s reckless and irresponsible approach to planning, and the continuing failure to provide essential-for-life infrastructure must stop.

This should be an issue at the next election.

Yours faithfully,

Dr R F Smith

Trustee CPRE Sussex