At a national level, I have been campaigning for some time alongside the Conservative Environment Network and colleagues in Parliament to link new homes to the provision of their corresponding sewer upgrades.
When new homes are built, they must have the infrastructure that is needed to go with them, and that is never more important than when we are ensuring that our sewage networks are able to cope.
I was delighted by the Government’s announcement following my campaign, on the 10th of January, to consult on making sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), things like soakways for rainwater mandatory for new developments.
A further step being pursued is the removal of developers' automatic 'right to connect' to public sewers. This would mean that water companies would be able to object if their system was not able to cope and they would not have to simply accept the developer's demand. Consequently, water companies would require a financial contribution from developers to deal with the increase in demand for connection to their sewage network. In turn, this would mean we would get the upgrades to our water systems that we expect, and we would have a system that can cope with developers paying their fair share.
If the legal changes I am campaigning for were implemented, this would be a significant step forward as the Government transforms how water companies deal with sewage and in turn drastically reduces the use of storm sewage overflows.
I am pleased by the Government’s positive response to our significant campaign to ensure that new homes in England will have sustainable drainage systems
This announcement will go a long way to save water, tackle flooding and reduce water pollution.
