In a significant intervention to speed up delivery of much-needed
reservoirs, the Environment Secretary has seized control of the
planning process to build two major reservoirs for the first time
since the 1990s.
This immediate step delivers on this government's commitment to
fast-track the delivery of nine new reservoirs, supporting
its plans to get Britain building and deliver 1.5 million new
homes by the end of this parliament.
Without these projects, national water supplies will remain under
threat and new homes simply cannot be built.
With the government taking decisive control, two new reservoir
projects in East Anglia and Lincolnshire have been awarded status
of ‘nationally significant'. This means the project is so crucial
that the planning process is escalated from a local level to the
Secretary of State.
This milestone will streamline and accelerate the planning
process, to shore up water resources for over three quarters of a
million homes in England's most water-stressed areas.
Rapid population growth, crumbling infrastructure that has been
left to decline, and a warming climate mean the UK could run out
of clean drinking water by the middle of the next decade without
a major infrastructure overhaul.
To sustain our water supply into the future, the government will
also legislate to radically streamline the planning process –
meaning the ‘nationally significant' designation is automatic for
projects like these which are fundamental to our national water
resilience.
This comes as part of the Plan for Change, which will bring
forward building 150 major infrastructure projects this
Parliament, creating new jobs and driving economic growth.
Water Minister said:
Today we are backing the builders not the blockers, intervening
in the national interest and slashing red tape to make the
planning process faster to unblock nine new reservoirs.
This Government will secure our water supply for future
generations and unlock the building of thousands of homes as part
of the Plan for Change.
, Chief Executive of Ofwat
said:
We welcome the clear focus the Government is placing upon
accelerating the delivery of supply and resilience schemes that
will meet our future water needs and support economic growth.
Alongside the £2 billion of development funding announced at our
2024 Price Review, this will help us to deliver the largest
programme of major water infrastructure projects - including nine
new reservoirs - seen in decades.
Meanwhile, the risk of
drought this summer is increasing, with the Environment
Agency urging water companies to do more to safeguard water
supplies after the driest start to spring in 69 years.
Reservoirs, which collect and store water, are essential to keep
water supply reliable and consistent even during dry weather –
but no new reservoirs have been delivered since 1992, over 30
years ago.
Thousands of much needed homes in Cambridge and North Sussex
are currently being blocked due to concerns around water
scarcity.
Anglian Water are proposing to build the Lincolnshire Reservoir
to the south of Sleaford, aiming to be operational by 2040. They
have also partnered with Cambridge Water to propose the Fens
Reservoir, located between the towns of Chatteris and March, set
to be completed in 2036.
The Lincolnshire Reservoir would provide up to 166 million litres
of water per day for up to 500,000 homes – that is the equivalent
of more than 664 million cups of tea day. The Fens would supply a
much needed 87 million litres to 250,000 homes in the driest
region of the UK.
Both projects will now progress to consultation phase, where
developers gather views from communities and stakeholders.
Water companies have committed to bring 9 new reservoirs
online by 2050, in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire,
Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Kent, East Sussex and the West
Midlands and Somerset. These reservoirs alone have the potential
to provide 670 million litres of extra water per day.
