Anger over Anglian Water's plans to restrict house building
House building could be blocked in parts of West Norfolk due to concerns around the capacity of sewage systems
Blocking new housing in parts of Norfolk where sewers can’t cope will harm economic growth and threaten jobs, a councillor has warned.
Tom De Winton, a Conservative councillor for Brancaster, fears Anglian Water’s opposition to new developments will have serious consequences for west Norfolk businesses.
He said it is “absolutely disgraceful” that the water firm was seeking to restrict house building in nearly 20 towns and villages on the coast following years of slow investment in its facilities.
“If suddenly sewage turns the tap off for new housing building, there will be people out of work. It is vital for our economy.
“Anglian Water is threatening to stifle our progress.”
Anglian Water has said its infrastructure can’t cope with new housing in several villages on the coast served by its Heacham waterworks until improvements are made, which could take until 2035.
This will affect house building in Heacham, Hunstanton, Old Hunstanton, Sedgeford, Docking, Snettisham, Old Hunstanton, Holme, Thornham and parts of Tichwell.
Anglian Water will also request a condition be attached to new developments served by its Burnham Market works, preventing them from being occupied until 2030 when work on upgrading the plant is expected to have been completed.
It has left West Norfolk Council caught in a bind.
While Anglian Water’s advice could be ignored as it is not a statutory consultee, approving new developments regardless would risk harming the environment.
Cabinet member for planning, Jim Moriarty, said Anglian Water’s opposition would “likely” lead to housing developments being blocked by the authority.
This could have huge ramifications on its efforts to build more than 10,000 homes in the borough, to meet government targets for new housing over the next 20 years.
If councils fail to meet these targets, they risk being penalised by central government.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has not responded to a question about whether councils would still face penalties due to a water company’s infrastructure being unable to cope.
A spokeswoman for Anglian Water said: “We feel that the environmentally responsible thing for us to do is to highlight where development poses such a risk to the environment.”
It plans to spend £280m in the next five years to upgrade its sewage works and has blamed Ofwat price reviews for underfunding the industry.