Government proposes water credits for Cambridge expansion

A market for water credits has emerged as a key plank of the Government’s plan for facilitating extensive development in water stressed Cambridge.

The news came last week in a joint statement from DLUHC, Defra, the Environment Agency and planning authority the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service.

While detailed design work is yet to be done, the plan is to “establish a market framework and a market operator who will oversee where ‘water credits’ can be allocated to developers to ensure that the impact of water demand from new development is neutralised. This will be in place as long as it is necessary.

“Initial government investment will be used to retrofit both household and non-household properties in Cambridge to provide the initial credits, with any property owners meeting the market requirements for retrofits able to supply the market in future…

“Once the system is up and running the market operator will match up buyers and sellers of water credits. Developers will be expected to increase levels of water efficiency and reuse (where possible), with the remaining water that cannot be reduced, offset through the purchase of credits. Water savings provided through retrofits will be monitored and assured, using water company metering data and assured through the EA and the market operator.”

In addition, Cambridge Water and Anglian Water were encouraged to provide developer incentives for meeting a standard of 110 litres per person per day (l/p/d) or lower.

The joint statement also featured longer term solutions, including a new transfer to Cambridge from Grafham Water and a new Fens reservoir – both of which were expected in a reworked Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) from Cambridge Water.

At present, the government noted: “A sizeable number of sites remain in the planning process (in the current adopted local plans of both councils) because of concerns raised by the EA around sustainable water supply to the Cambridge area. Cambridge Water’s previous draft WRMP was not able to satisfactorily demonstrate that there was enough water to supply all of the new properties contained in the emerging joint Local Plan without risk of deterioration of the local water environment, including chalk streams.”

The statement also referenced housing secretary Michael Gove’s December statement encouraging local planning authorities to work with the Environment Agency and delivery partners to agree tighter water efficiency standards for new development where water scarcity is inhibiting the granting of planning permission for homes.

The departments said: “The Government is confident, based on the scheme… alongside a published WRMP, that the availability of sustainable water resources need not be an impediment to the consideration of planning permissions for developments envisaged within the adopted local plans.”