Land use planning and the water sector: a review of development plans and catchment management plans

Abstract

Recent changes to the structure of the water sector in the UK have occurred at a time of unprecedented spotlight on sustainable resource use, pollution control and conservation. However, the role of the new water institutions in planning-and the role of the planning process in achieving sustainable use of aquifers and rivers-has been little explored. A new process in England and Wales - the National Rivers Authority's catchment management planning - is analysed here in terms of its early documentary outputs. It is found that, with the notable exception of the Thames region of the Authority, lack of experience in pro-active involvement with town and country planning has led to a clear lack of impact in the early catchment management plans (CMPs); there is no clear "bid' for particular patterns of land use. The contents of "parallel' CMPs and development plans are compared and improvements for the National Rivers Authority's documents and liaison processes are suggested. -Authors