Water neutrality - planning policy

Joint study

The council is working on a joint study with neighbouring affected authorities, along with Natural England, Southern Water and the Environment Agency, to quantify the scale of the issue and identify a proposed mitigation strategy to address this issue. 

It is currently envisaged that the study will comprise of three parts:

Part A: Individual local authority areas assessment

The study calculates the individual impact of each local authority on water resources using estimates of future growth. The contribution that could be theoretically possible from different measures is also presented.

Sussex North Water neutrality study - part A (PDF, 907 KB)

Part B: In-combination assessment

The individual authority assessments have been combined into a Water Supply Zone assessment and the report is published below.  Part C, the mitigation strategy, will then follow towards the end of the summer.  

Water Neutrality Study: Part B - In-combination Final Report April 2022 (Word doc, 2 MB)

Part C: Determine mitigation

The third part of this study, this mitigation strategy, is published below along with a statement from Natural England.

Water Neutrality Study: Part C (PDF, 34 MB)

Natural England's endorsement of Sussex Water Neutrality Study: Part C Mitigation Strategy (PDF, 574 KB)

Further updates will be available on this webpage.