New town development causes drought, campaigners claim

Campaigners claim the biggest new town since Milton Keynes is causing a major drought in part of Cambridgeshire. Northstowe, a flagship development being led by the government’s housing agency, Homes England, will contain 10,000 homes when it is finished but campaigners claim the construction of the first 1,000 has already sucked away the groundwater from Larksfield Nursery and natural spaces surrounding Longstanton. They say it has killed birch trees and emptied ponds, depriving wildlife of habitat. The campaigners have been granted a judicial review of the development of 4,000 homes in a forthcoming phase of the new town’s development. The developer, L&Q, which worked with Homes England’s predecessor on the first phase of the development, had to lower the water levels in order to build on the land, a process known as dewatering. However, L&Q denies any of the work could have led to long-term issues with groundwater levels. The Guardian