Shropshire Council Water Cycle Study Final Report July 2020 www.jbaconsulting.com Shropshire Council BOB-JBAU-XX-XX-RP-EN-0001-S3-P04-Water_Cycle_Study i This page is intentionally left blank BOB-JBAU-XX-XX-RP-EN-0001-S3-P04-Water_Cycle_Study 1 JBA Project Manager Richard Pardoe Pipe House Lupton Road Wallingford OX10 9BS Revision History Revision Ref/Date Amendments Issued to S3-P01 – 26/11/2019 Draft Report Joy Tetsill (Senior Planning Officer) S3-P02 – 11/03/2020 Draft – Final Report Joy Tetsill S3-P03 – 09/07/2020 Final Report Joy Tetsill S3-P04 – 22/07/2020 Final Report (Amended) Joy Tetsill Contract This report describes work commissioned by the Shropshire Council, by an email dated 10th July 2019. Lucy Finch and Richard Pardoe of JBA Consulting carried out this work. Prepared by .................................. Lucy Finch BSc Analyst .................................................... Saskia Salwey BSc Assistant Analyst Reviewed by .................................. Richard Pardoe MSc MEng Analyst .................................................... Paul Eccleston BA CertWEM CEnv MCIWEM C.WEM Technical Director Purpose This document has been prepared as a Draft Report for the Shropshire Council. JBA Consulting accepts no responsibility or liability for any use that is made of this document other than by the Shropshire Council for the purposes for which it was originally commissioned and prepared. JBA Consulting has no liability regarding the use of this report except to Shropshire Council. Acknowledgements JBA Consulting would like to thank Shropshire Council, Severn Trent Water, United Utilities and Welsh Water for their assistance in preparing this report. Copyright © Jeremy Benn Associates Limited 2020. BOB-JBAU-XX-XX-RP-EN-0001-S3-P04-Water_Cycle_Study 2 Carbon Footprint A printed copy of the main text in this document will result in a carbon footprint of 800g if 100% post-consumer recycled paper is used and 1018g if primary-source paper is used. These figures assume the report is printed in black and white on A4 paper and in duplex. JBA is aiming to reduce its per capita carbon emissions. BOB-JBAU-XX-XX-RP-EN-0001-S3-P04-Water_Cycle_Study 3 Executive summary In July 2019, JBA Consulting was commissioned by Shropshire Council to undertake a Water Cycle Study (WCS) to inform the Shropshire Local Plan Review. This study assesses the potential issues relating to future development within Shropshire and the impacts on water supply, wastewater collection and treatment and water quality. The Water Cycle Study is required to assess the constraints and requirements that will arise from potential growth on the water infrastructure. New homes require the provision of clean water, safe disposal of wastewater and protection from flooding. The allocation of large numbers of new homes in certain locations may result in the capacity of existing available infrastructure being exceeded, a situation that could potentially cause service failures to water and wastewater customers, adverse impacts to the environment, or high costs for the upgrade of water and wastewater assets being passed on to the bill payers. In addition to increased housing demand, future climate change presents further challenges to the existing water infrastructure network, including increased intensive rainfall events and a higher frequency of drought events. Sustainable planning for water must now take this into account. The water cycle can be seen in the figure below and shows how the natural and man- made processes and systems interact to collect, store or transport water in the environment. The Water Cycle Source: Environment Agency – Water Cycle Study Guidance This study will assist Shropshire Council to select and develop sustainable development allocations where there is minimal impact on the environment, water quality, water resources, infrastructure and flood risk. This has been achieved by identifying areas where there may be conflict between any proposed development, the requirements of the environment and by recommending potential solutions to these conflicts. The Water Cycle Study has been carried out in co-operation with Severn Trent Water (STW), United Utilities (UU), Welsh Water (WW), the Environment Agency and the neighbouring Local Planning Authorities (LPAs). Potential development sites were provided by Shropshire Council and wastewater treatment works (WwTW) likely to serve growth in the area were identified using the Environment Agency Consents database. Each development site/growth scenario was then allocated to a WwTW in order to understand the additional wastewater flow resulting from the planned growth. Available information was collated on water policy and legislation, water resources, water quality, and environmental designations within the study area. BOB-JBAU-XX-XX-RP-EN-0001-S3-P04-Water_Cycle_Study 4 Shropshire’s proposed growth over the Local Plan period is comprised of the following: • Preferred options sites - An urban-focused distribution of development with the majority of development going to the Strategic Centre (Shrewsbury), the Principal Centres (Bridgnorth, Oswestry, Ludlow, Whitchurch and Market Drayton), and eleven other Key Centres. The remainder is proposed in Community Hubs and Community Clusters in the rural areas. • Strategic sites - In addition to the preferred options sites, three strategic sites have been proposed to meet Shropshire’s housing need. These are RAF Cosford, Ironbridge Power Station site and Clive Barracks at Tern Hill near Market Drayton. The objective of the study is to provide evidence to guide development towards the most sustainable sites. Red / Amber /Green (RAG) assessments have been prepared at the settlement and site scale for the different aspects of the water cycle. It should be remembered that where a development is scored amber or red in a water supply or wastewater infrastructure assessment, it does not mean that development cannot or should not take place in that location, merely that significant infrastructure may be required to accommodate it. The decision on the suitability of sites is made up of a number of assessments outside the scope of this report. Water Resources Severn Trent Water is responsible for supplying the majority of Shropshire with water, with Hafren Dyfrdwy operating in a small area in the west of the study area. Shropshire is covered by the Strategic Grid, Shelton, Kinsall, Mardy, Whitchurch and Wem, North Staffs, Bishops Castle, Stafford, Ruyton, Wolverhampton and Llandinam Llanwrin Water Resource Zones (WRZ). The WRMP shows a supply-demand deficit from 2021-22 at the Strategic Grid WRZ and from 2025-26 at the North Staffs WRZ if no action is taken, however the WRMP goes on to define a number of actions that will address this. The Kinsall and Whitchurch and Wem WRZs show minor supply-demand deficits later on in the plan period. Severn Trent have stated that the adopted WRMP has planned for the proposed growth, however sites in Albrighton, Shifnal and the strategic site at RAF Cosford were rated as amber as they are located in areas where there are WINEP actions to reduce abstraction. In these locations, water may need to be transferred into the catchment to avoid increasing local abstraction. Policies to reduce water demand from new developments, or to go further and achieve water neutrality in certain areas (particularly within the Shelton water resource zone), could be defined to reduce the potential environmental impact of additional water abstractions in Shropshire, and also help to achieve reductions in carbon emissions. It is therefore recommended that the tighter water efficiency standard of 110 litres per person per day as described in Part G of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2010 is adopted for Shropshire. In the areas identified by Severn Trent Water as having particular pressures on Water Resources within the Shelton water resource zone should be considered for the application of water neutrality if required by STW. Water supply infrastructure Severn Trent stated that as long as a site is within a water resource zone with sufficient water resources, they do not envisage a problem with supply to that site. An exception to this are the sites around Albrighton, Shifnal and the strategic sites at RAF Cosford and Junction 3 of M54. In these locations water may need to be transferred into the catchment to serve these sites without increasing local abstraction. Early developer engagement is required to ensure that, as development occurs within the study area, detailed modelling of water supply infrastructure will allow any upgrades to be completed without restricting the timing, location or scale of the planned development. Wastewater collection infrastructure STW, UU and WW provide wastewater services to Shropshire. Sewerage Undertakers have a duty under Section 94 of the Water Industry Act 1991 to provide sewerage and treat wastewater arising from new domestic development. Except where strategic upgrades are required to serve very large or multiple developments, infrastructure upgrades are usually only implemented BOB-JBAU-XX-XX-RP-EN-0001-S3-P04-Water_Cycle_Study 5 following an application for a connection, adoption, or requisition from a developer. Early developer engagement with STW, UU and WW is therefore essential to ensure that sewerage capacity can be provided without delaying development. Only STW and WW provide wastewater services for the preferred options and strategic sites. STW and WW provided a red/amber/green assessment of