Delivery of Cambridge reservoir to be sped up

A government group set up to spearhead the expansion of Cambridge will explore how to accelerate delivery of the proposed new Fens Reservoir.

The announcement was made by levelling up secretary Michael Gove as part of proposals to develop a new quarter in Cambridge, including 6,000 new homes and 1m sq ft of commercial research space for the city’s booming life sciences sector.

A Cambridge Delivery Group, chaired by King’s Cross developer Peter Freeman, has been established to address barriers to the development, including the city’s water scarcity.

The group will convene a Water Scarcity Working Group with the Environment Agency, Ofwat, central and local government to “identify and accelerate plans to address water constraints” in the city.

This will include how to accelerate construction of the proposed new Fens Reservoir, proposed jointly by Anglian and Cambridge Water to the north of Cambridge and is designed to provide sufficient water to meet the needs of 250,000 homes.

The government has also committed to support the council to ensure new houses in planned developments, such as the expanded village of Waterbeach to the north of Cambridge, can be more water efficient.

These include a £3 million funding pot to support measures to improve the water efficiency of existing homes and commercial property across Cambridge and therefore help offset demands created by new developments in the city.

Cambridge City Council, Anglian Water, developer Land Securities and government agency Homes England will also work together to accelerate the relocation of water treatment works in northeast Cambridge, which will help to unlock development of the new urban quarter.

South Cambridgeshire’s Conservative MP Anthony Browne has identified scarcity of water resources as the major blocker to the expansion of Cambridge, adding that the government’s plans will be “dead on arrival” unless it can resolve the problem.

Following Gove’s speech, he tweeted: “We have run out of water. For the first time ever, the Environment Agency is systematically blocking all major new development around Cambridge because there is no water for them. We are the driest part of the country with the highest population growth.

“Our rivers, streams and ponds already run dry. The wetland reserve at Fowlmere where I grew up now only has water in summer because the Environment Agency pumps it there.

“There is not enough water for existing housing; there is not enough for the major expansion of housing already planned; and there is not enough for any govt plans for a new quarter. As I say, unless the Govt can say where the water will come from, its plans are dead on arrival.”

The Fens is one of three proposed reservoirs which received the green light earlier this year for continued development from the Regulators Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development.

Utility Week reported that the reservoir was highlighted as a notably high-cost solution with Ofwat asking for “clear and robust evidence” that the Fens location is the best value option.