Our region boasts some of the most breath-taking landscapes in the country, from its big skies to its streams and rivers. Among these waterways, the river Lark stands out as one of only 250 chalk streams worldwide. These rare habitats, some 200 of which are in the UK, when ‘well’, support thriving ecosystems and with continued collective effort, we can help rejuvenate and sustain their health for generations to come.
Water as we know, is a precious resource that we depend on, it's critical that we act to safeguard it, reducing what we use and enhancing storage is vital but so is looking after the natural environment. Thanks to partnership working, we are making progress in tackling long-standing challenges and last summer, we signed a memorandum of understanding with Anglian Water, which has been instrumental in driving change.
The new, Plan for Water goes further and provides a clear strategy for tackling urgent challenges with increased investment, stronger regulation, and stricter enforcement on polluters, building on the significant actions taken thus far. Changing the law to increase penalties for environmental damage caused by water companies, and permit charges to fund more inspections with new inspection targets, will all help. Reinvesting fines from water companies into a new Water Restoration Fund will make polluters pay for damage they cause. Furthermore, the plan to invest £1 million in partnership projects, along with the recommendations from the Chalk Stream Strategy and a focus on catchment plans will have a significant impact on our local work.
New legislation mandates that water companies upgrade their infrastructure and invest in new technologies, such as desalination, that can help combat pollution and enhance water resilience, therefore I am pleased Anglia Water are investing hundreds of millions of pounds to drive change.
Enabling farmers to store more water on their land with funding to build on-farm reservoirs and improve their irrigation equipment will enhance water storage and support increased food production.
Regulatory measures such as banning wet wipes containing plastic and limiting the use of "forever" chemicals, are further positive steps. The earlier deadline for reducing chemicals in wastewater treatment is crucial to achieving this goal.
Taken together, these steps will deliver the progress that residents tell me they want to see and set us on a trajectory for a clean and sustainable water supply for everyone.
Politics
