…amongst other things in a published report that really should have been published as a written ministerial statement to Parliament by the Minister for Water
You can see the publications list by the water regulator OfWat here. Note the two items published 12 January 2026 mentioning:
Note Anglian Water have been opposing large planning applications of late over what they say is lack of sewage processing capacity. Looks like they will have to add to that. Also, we have been here before.
Above – from the British Newspaper Archive here
That was followed by an effective ban on new large housing developments in Cambridge a year later – and not lifted until the late 1970s due to fears the additional demands would deluge the Milton water works.
And just like today, those previous generations were also warned.
A report from Cambridge City Council’s Engineer and Surveyor in March 1965 sets out the grim picture.
Above – Mr T.V. Burrows (whose first names are very hard to find) warning Cambridge city councillors of a looming sewage crisis in March 1965
Mr Burrows was elected president of the Institution of Municipal Engineers in 1964 – where he called for an overhaul of local government at their annual conference. (Something I’ll pick up on in Lost Cambridge soon!)
Given the repeated statements from ministers about the importance of Cambridge’s growth to the UK economy, this should not have been buried. OfWat should have informed the Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs in the form of a submission to the Minister for Water (who has policy responsibility) and that minister should have informed the Minister for Housing and Planning as he is the policy lead for Cambridge growth. Their deliberations should have resulted in a written statement to Parliament along with a briefing for the Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee in Parliament, lest that committee feel it important enough to summon representatives from OfWat and the two water companies to explain themselves in public.
Peter Freeman is going to be displeased about this.
The Chair of the Cambridge Growth Company already has issues with Anglian Water’s moratorium on large planning applications – something that is already on ministerial plates. (Have a listen to Mr Freeman on Cambridge Radio last Sunday with former Cambridge City Council Leader Lewis Herbert here). This is a further risk to the Government’s plans on lots of new homes for Cambridge and Cambridgeshire – along with the demand from agriculture and from the new sci-tech parks popping up.
Given the fairly large geographical area affected, this is something a number of MPs can pick up on as a constituency issue. Could you ask your MP to write to the Minister for Water asking what the Government intends to do about this? https://www.writetothem.com/
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The Cambridge Town Owl 