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To agree the response to Cambridge Water’s Draft Water Resources Management Plan
Decision Maker: Executive Councillor for Planning, Building Control, and Infrastructure
Decision published: 30/05/2023
Effective from: 30/05/2023
Decision:
Matter for Decision: To agree the response to Cambridge
Water’s Draft Water Resources Management Plan
Why the Decision had to be made (and any alternative
options): The purpose of this decision is to agree the response to Cambridge
Water’s Draft Water Resources Management Plan (dWRMP), set out at Appendix 1
which can be viewed at the link below.
This is proposed to be a joint response with South Cambridgeshire
District Council.
Cambridge Water are carrying out consultation on their
dWRMP. WRMPs identify how water supply
will be managed, are produced every 5 years, and cover a 25 year period
Cambridge Water’s dWRMP sets out the challenges faced in the
plan period including the impacts of climate change, population growth
associated with development in the area, planning for drought resilience and
the requirement to leave more water in the environment by reducing abstraction
from the underground aquifer which feeds the chalk streams.
The dWRMP sets out the measures Cambridge Water propose to
balance supply and demand for water and is closely aligned with Water Resources
East’s draft Regional Water Resources Plan.
The approach proposed is:
·
Demand management, including reducing leakage, a
commitment to reduce both household and non-household water consumption and
universal smart metering
·
New sources of supply including optimising
sustainable licences from a gravel source, a time limited bulk water transfer
from Anglian Water (a pipeline from Grafham Water), re-use and storage from
water recycling works and the development of the Fens Reservoir in partnership
with Anglian Water
In the short term, until the new sources of supply become
operational there is still a deficit in supply and Cambridge Water intend to:
·
Apply drought measurement measures more
frequently in dry years
·
Accelerate the bulk transfer from Anglian Water
from 2027 to 2031 – although this wasn’t included in a draft decision by OFWAT
in April 2023
The proposed joint response to the consultation in Appendix
1 is based upon the response the Councils previously made to the draft Regional
Water Resources Plan.
The proposed response is supportive of the overall aim of
the draft WRMP in that it seeks to address the identified development needs
whilst also achieving the abstraction reductions required by the Environment
Agency. However, this is with the
proviso that the Councils are not the responsible authorities in water
resources planning and would look to the expertise of the Environment Agency to
assess whether the measures proposed in the WRMP will be effective in providing
a sustainable water supply
The Councils urge Cambridge Water along with the Environment
Agency, DEFRA, DLUHC and OFWAT to work effectively together and in a timely
manner to resolve the final WRMP and to bring forward the necessary supply and
demand measures as rapidly as possible.
Officers carried out a briefing about the proposed response
on 9th May 2023, to which all Councillors in Cambridge City Council
and South Cambridgeshire District Council were invited
The alternative options are:
·
Agree to submit the response in Appendix 1, with
possible minor amendments
·
Agree an alternative response
·
Agree not to respond to the consultation
To not submit a consultation response, would miss an
opportunity to put forward the Council’s views to Cambridge Water in support of
measures which will reduce demand for water and increase supply, enabling
reductions in abstraction causing harm to the environment and to enable housing
and economic development.
The Executive Councillor’s decision: Agreed that the
consultation response set out in Appendix 1 of this decision should be made to
Cambridge Water’s draft Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP). Agreed that
delegated authority is given to the Joint Director for Planning and Economic
Development to agree any minor amendments to the response in order to finalise
the joint response.
Reason for the decision: To provide the views of Cambridge
City Council on the draft WRMP because future water resources will be a key
issue for the Greater Cambridge Local Plan
Scrutiny Consideration: The Chair and Spokesperson of the
Planning and Transport Scrutiny Committee were consulted prior to the action
being authorised.
Report: Officer to reference any reports or associated
papers. Appendix 1 (attached) Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire
District Council proposed joint response to Cambridge Water’s Draft Water
Resources Management Plan (WRMP) 2024
Conflict of interest: None.
Comments: Comments were received from Councillors T Bick and
Cllr S Davies which were addressed by the Principal Planning Policy Officer and
Appendix 1 updated accordingly.
To view Appendix 1, click on the link below:
Lead officer: Nancy Kimberley
A recommendation to note that the shared waste service is working on changes to collection routes that will have impacts on some residents bin collection days in the Summer of 2023.
Decision Maker: Environment and Community Scrutiny Committee
Made at meeting: 23/03/2023 - Environment and Community Scrutiny Committee
Decision published: 30/05/2023
Effective from: 23/03/2023
Decision:
Matter for
Decision
Greater Cambridge Shared
waste service was responsible for collecting domestic waste from 127,000 households
and Commercial waste from 4,000 businesses across Cambridge City and South
Cambridgeshire.
Due to the extensive amount
of growth across both Districts, collection rounds had expanded at a
significant rate since they were last reviewed in 2017, resulting in the need
for review and optimisation now. The service was conducting a routine routes
optimisation exercise due for completion in Summer 2023 to address this issue.
Decision
of Executive Councillor for Environment, Climate Change and Biodiversity
Noted the Shared Waste
Service was working on a route optimisation exercise that would result in
collection day changes for residents during the Summer. Until the first phase
of the exercise was complete the level of impact on residents was unknown, but
It was anticipated there may be a period of disruption to services whilst new
rounds settled down and collection crews got to grips with changes.
Reason for the Decision
As set out in the Officer’s report.
Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected
Not applicable.
Scrutiny
Considerations
The Committee received a report from the Head of Climate, Environment & Waste.
The Head of Climate, Environment & Waste said the following in
response to Members’ questions:
i.
No details were available on how the four day
working week would affect the service. A report would be brought back in future
to a Cambridge City Council Committee. (Post meeting note: The report is
expected to be presented to the Strategy & Resources Scrutiny Committee
meeting on 3 July 2023).
ii.
In order to recycle clothing and encourage people
to do so:
a.
Various recycling banks were available across the
South Cambs and Cambridge City areas.
b.
Repair shops could allow people to swap dirty
clothes (eg paint stained ones) for clean clothes, or provide a cleaning
service.
The Executive
Councillor:
i.
Acknowledged that clothing and textile recycling
could be an issue.
ii.
Two things were required to undertake recycling:
a.
Collection points.
b.
Someone who wanted to recycle paper, plastic,
clothing etc.
iii.
Encouraged people to donate usable clothing to
charity shops.
iv.
Non-wearable clothing should not go in blue bins,
and preferably not to landfill. Suggestions on how to recycle it were welcome.
People were cautious about accepting stained clothing for recycling.
v.
More could be done to promoted recycling
facilities. Noted the suggestion to promote clothing recycling campaigns
through RECAPP (organisation).
The Committee unanimously resolved to endorse the recommendation.
The Executive Councillor
approved the recommendation.
Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any
Dispensations Granted)
No conflicts of interest were declared by the Executive Councillor.
Lead officer: Bode Esan