Greater Cambridge Shared Planning – the shared planning service for Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District councils – has received Government funding of over £5 million to deliver part of the Greater Cambridge Water Efficiency Programme and help address water scarcity locally.
The funding was provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government.
The Government has committed to ensuring there is adequate water supply and wastewater capacity for sustainable growth in Greater Cambridge. Their Water Efficiency Programme aims to deliver water saving initiatives and ensure sustainable development can proceed in the short-term, while water companies work to deliver major water infrastructure improvements for the medium-term - such as the Grafham pipeline transfer and Fens reservoir which are expected to be completed in the 2030s.
The councils will use this funding to drive down demand for water in the area and offset new development by installing water saving devices in existing Council-owned buildings through a programme of retrofit work across partner councils.
Alongside this, the councils are investigating opportunities to install water saving devices and identify leaks in Council homes in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire, as well as properties maintained by the councils such as Cambridge’s swimming pools and South Cambridgeshire’s headquarters in Cambourne.
Cllr Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Cabinet Member for Planning at South Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “We have been calling on Government to help resolve the crucial water supply issue for several years, and are already seeing concerns about water supply impacting development in Greater Cambridge. I welcome this funding as it means we can make progress in helping to reduce the amount of water our area uses. The role of the Shared Planning service is to plan ahead to ensure that development happens in a joined-up way, aligned with essentials such as water supply. These measures will help in the short-term, meaning we are able to do our job of ensuring sustainable, planned development can go ahead.”
Cllr Katie Thornburrow, Cabinet Member for Planning and Infrastructure at Cambridge City Council, said: “Where devices to help our tenants save water are installed, they are unlikely to notice any impact in terms of water supply. However, we will be helping to support water sustainability and bring down their water bills. Meanwhile, at our own Council-run swimming pools, for example, we anticipate saving up to 90% of water usage across three sites. There will be more details to follow through the months ahead as this work begins in earnest and a procurement process to select a suitable organisation to carry out the work is underway. My hope is we can learn from these innovative projects and bid for further funding to roll out more measures across the area in the coming years. We’ll also of course be working closely with the Environment Agency to assure the water savings made from this initiative.”