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The UK's 347,000 kilometre network of sewers and 9,000 sewage treatment works fulfil the vital function of managing over 11 billion litres of waste water each day. Changing weather patterns and population growth are leading to increased volumes of waste water in some parts of the country. Although improved water efficiency and the increased use of sustainable drainage systems can help to keep this increase to a minimum, in coming years there will be a need to construct new infrastructure to manage waste water. In particular new infrastructure is needed in the River Thames area to cope with population growth and to meet the European Union's environmental requirements. It is therefore essential that the planning system for large waste water projects is as efficient as possible, to ensure that the new infrastructure is delivered in a timely manner while giving sufficient attention to the impacts on local communities and water and sewerage company customers who ultimately pay for such projects.
The National Policy Statement (NPS) on Waste Water has the potential to provide a valuable policy framework to guide decision makers in their consideration of new large-scale projects under the streamlined provisions of the Planning Act 2008. However, the draft NPS is a work in progress which will require considerable revision to make it complete and accurate. In particular, the site-specific sections should be removed and the NPS should focus wholly on providing clear generic criteria applicable to all Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs).
Furthermore, the Planning Act's new regime for NSIPs does not currently apply to the Thames Tunnel project—a surprising omission given that this multi-billion pound project is one of only two waste water projects likely to be of sufficient scale to come within the ambit of this NPS. The Government must rectify this urgently.
We expect Ministers in preparing the final version of the Waste Water NPS to take account both of our recommendations for improving the draft document and of responses to Defra's public consultation. We recommend a debate on the floor of the House of Commons and, subject to its outcome and the incorporation of the recommended changes, we consider that the Secretary of State should designate this NPS.
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