Water companies will not be made statutory appointees on major planning decisions

This was the only recommendation from the House of Lords Built Environment Committee's report into drought preparedness, published in May, which was rejected by the government.  In its response to the report, it pointed out that the MHCLG had "implemented a new plan-making system which will ensure better join-up between water and development planning processes".  This includes prescribing water and sewerage companies in ‘requirement to assist’ regulations so they will be obliged to help with plan-making “where reasonably requested”.  In the government's view, issues such as water capacity, drainage and wastewater management, are "best dealt with at a strategic level, where it is easier to identify and mitigate capacity issues or damaged infrastructure early, and which can act as a point of reference for planning application decisions.”