Solving water scarcity for Cambridge
Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Paul Bristow has made the following statement in response to the Government’s announcement that new regional water councils will be created, alongside new powers for Mayors to hold water companies to account.
Paul Bristow said:
“The Government’s own announcement names drought in Cambridge as a brake on growth, and they’re right. Nearly 40% of our region is at risk of flooding, and we’ve just lived through our third drought in five years. That has real impacts on our communities, our businesses and our economy.
“So I welcome elected mayors being put at the heart of how our water system is planned. Water supply, treatment capacity and water quality all matter to our communities and they deserve a say in how it’s managed. And without the right water infrastructure, we can’t grow the economy at the rate set out in our Local Growth Plan. I’d also like to see Mayors given more tools to increase supply, including through agricultural reservoirs.
“The Government wants Mayors to hold water companies to account too. People here pay their bills and have every right to demand the investment, the resilience and the water quality they expect. But giving Mayors the teeth to really make a difference will be crucial.
“I’m ready to bring partners together so we work as one region on this. Our emerging Water Resilience Plan already gives us a head start. I’ll be looking closely at the detail, and working with Government to make sure new responsibilities come with the capacity and funding to deliver.”
At Future Cities Forum's last 'Science Cities' discussion hosted by the Wellcome Genome Campus,
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