March 2024

In September 2021, Natural England issued a position statement in relation to the North Sussex Water Zone introducing the matter of water neutrality. The Water Zone covers the whole of Horsham, part of Crawley, part of Chichester and part of the South Downs. As a result of such, any application in the system at the time or submitted after is required to demonstrate water neutrality which is defined as not consuming more water than before the development began.

One such application stuck in the system was a reserved matter scheme submitted by a children's nursery operator for a new building. Two years after the submission D&M Planning Ltd were instructed to assist with matters of water neutrality. Using our expertise based on extensive experience leading the way on the matter in Horsham, we were able to successfully demonstrate that in combination with water reduction methods on the main house the scheme could be delivered in a water neutral way.

D&M Planning Ltd have been at the forefront of delivering water neutrality schemes within Horsham since the statement was issued by Natural England. This has included having the first application to be reliant on private boreholes recommended for approval, demonstrating water offsetting from within the site and identifying opportunities for off-site solutions. If you would like to speak to one of the team about water neutrality please do get in touch.

Planner: Matt Smith
Sustainability Consultant: SHA Envrionmental