Every area of the country is at liberty to set out why local factors must be taken into account in determining a Local Plan, even where this might substantially reduce development.
Horsham District is suffering significant Water Stress. Water levels have been so depleted as to create a threat to Bio-Diversity - this threat is unique to our part of the country and must be reflected fully in the Local Plan.
Mr Quin met Natural England last week (who originally identified the concerns of excessive water extraction). While Natural England can ascertain whether proposals can be “Water Neutral” in theory it is up to Horsham District Council to determine whether they would work in practice and then to monitor if they do.
The plans include a substantial increase and improvement in water company infrastructure (which will be reflected in customer bills).
The plans also assume that new residents only use 85 litres of mains water per person per day. The standard in current building regulations is 125 litres with average use far higher. Horsham District Council’s expectation implies new residents will only use enough mains water for just one short shower a day and nothing else. (This would imply no use of mains water for a bath, for drinking, for flushing toilets). There appear to be no plans for Horsham District Council to monitor water usage, to enable them to challenge the effectiveness of developers’ solutions.
Jeremy Quin said “I believe Horsham District Council’s plan is naïve in expecting a huge change in human behaviour and massive investment by developers in unproven technology, none of which will be monitored. They have adopted targets for today that are generally regarded as an aspiration for the distant future and only achievable with extensive, tested investment by developers and residents. Horsham District Council expecting these numbers to be hit is simply naïve and by adopting them it recklessly puts at risk the future sustainability of the water aquifer and our local, natural habitats.
The Plan accepts more development in Horsham on the basis of water neutrality plans that may “add up” on paper but in practice will be unmonitored and unviable.
“Horsham District Council’s 85 litre per person per day strategy is far lower than current consumption. The Plan requires householders to make huge behavioural changes and benefit from massive investment which isn’t committed. New residents wanting to live in our area will be presented with a choice: a new build with water restrictors, an existing property with no restrictors or moving into the new property and having the water restrictors removed. How will this actually work in practice?
“The water consumption expectation has been set far too low and this is an error which allows additional, unsustainable, building.
I also believe there is insufficient evidence that Horsham District Council currently have the in depth knowledge to judge the efficacy of developers’ plans for water consumption and HDC have no plans to monitor whether this is actually being achieved in practice.”
HDC’s consultation is running until 5pm on 1st March 2024. Jeremy encourages all residents to read through the Local Plan and respond directly to the consultation to ensure all thoughts and viewpoints are taken into account. More information about the Local Plan and the consultation can be found here: https://www.horsham.gov.uk/planning/local-plan/local-plan-regulation-19