In September 2021 Natural England announced in a Position Statement that it could not be concluded that the existing abstraction of water within the Sussex North Water Supply Zone would not have an adverse effect on the integrity of the Arun Valley Special Area Conservation (SAC), the Arun Valley Special Protection Area (SPA) and the Arun Valley Ramsar Site.
For Crawley Borough Council this has had significant impacts on the progression of their Local Plan Review as the Council must now demonstrate that the level of growth identified in the Local Plan will not have an adverse effect on the integrity of designated sites, either alone or in combination. The Council must therefore show with certainty that a suitable strategy will be implemented to ensure water neutrality is achieved. This strategy is currently being prepared and is being progressed through the Water Neutrality Assessment. The strategy will ensure that water neutrality is achieved, identifying measures that will need to be put into place and establishing responsibility for specific actions.
Part A of the Water Neutrality Study had been previously published and addresses growth in Crawley and Chichester individually. Part B of the Water Neutrality Study was published on the 28th April and builds on the findings of Part A, combining the growth forecasts of all affected local authority areas to identify the overall water demand. Crawley Borough Council will now use the findings of this study to develop a draft strategy to achieve water which will be known as Part C.
Parts A and B of the Water Neutrality Study can be found at https://crawley.gov.uk/planning/planning-applications/water-resources-crawley.
If you have a project in Crawley impacted by the water neutrality requirement get in touch to see whether we can help.
