Mid Sussex housing developments spark more water shortage fears

The concerns follow problems in a large part of the district last week when homes were left without water for nearly a week.

Villagers in Bolney, Bolnore, Cuckfield, Haywards Heath, Slaugham and Warninglid were fuming when their taps ran dry and accused South East Water of not planning ahead to cope with the heatwave.

People later took to social media expressing fears that Burgess Hill and other areas in the district would run out of water following the building of the planned 3,000 new homes as part of its Northern Arc development.

Retired communications consultant Malcolm Davison, who has lived in Mid Sussex for 60 years, said: “It does seem as if a blind eye has been turned to the huge population expansion in the area and so little is heard about how our water supply is being expanded to cope.”

And Mid Sussex councillor Anne Jones said that last week’s water shortage was just the latest in a series that had plagued the area.

She has written to South East Water demanding answers and has called on the Government to make it a planning requirement for water companies to be consulted on future planning schemes.

But back in July South East Water announced it was on the lookout to do business with any company developing new water efficiency and leak reduction technology.

A spokesman said: “The company is in the early stages of creating its latest Water Resources Management Plan which details how it will keep taps running into the future as the population increases.”

Lee Dance, South East Water’s head of water resources, said: “Making sure we have enough water to supply the growing population in the south east is one of our top priorities.

“From drinks manufacturers and paper mills to farmers and quarries, we know many businesses in our supply area have access to their own boreholes or other raw water sources and we are keen to hear from them.

“Equally, we are keen to be at the forefront of using the latest leak busting and demand management technology so would like to hear from any business which is developing new and innovative methods which we could use in the future.”