Our responsible business commitment is to play an active role regionally in relation to the impact of housing growth on water.
We will develop a policy together with local stakeholders – appreciating the balance of managing a sustainable water supply, while supporting the economic development of the south east region. We will respond to all national, local and regional authority consultations.
Desired impact – For South East Water to have provided our knowledge and expertise to support sustainable development within the south east region. For stakeholders to understand how we protect water resources for our region.
How have we performed?
Our focus in the year has been on the development of our next water resources management plan and engagement with customers and stakeholders (including local authorities) for that purpose.
This meant that less time could be dedicated to other forms and engagement in 2022/23 and our performance responding to consultations is summarised in the table below.
*Events relating to the development of our water resources management plan or post incidents at which housing growth was discussed
During 2022/23 we have been working closely with Wealden District Council and Canterbury City Council and have maintained regular meetings throughout the year.
With Wealden District Council we discussed updates on their Local Plan and emerging Local Plan policies and interactions with our Water Resources Management Plan 2024 and our proposal to develop a new Arlington reservoir. We also worked with them to define housing growth options across our respective plans.
With Canterbury City Council we discussed updates on their Local Plan, our representations on the Local Plan and the interactions with our Water Resources Management Plan 2024, especially our proposal to develop our Broad Oak reservoir including the recreational benefits of the reservoirs. We also discuss opportunities to embed water efficiency principles in the New Local Plan.
