New Homes 'could mean water bans'
Millions of families face severe water shortages in the years ahead due to government housing plans for the South East, a regional head has warned.
Keith Mitchell, chairman of the South East County Leaders, said more money must be spent on water supply and sewage treatment to avert a crisis.
The government plans to build more than half a million homes in the South-East over the next 20 years.
Eight million people live in the South-East, one of the UK's driest regions.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has designated four housing "hot spots" at Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, Ashford in Kent, the Cambridge-Stansted corridor and the Thames Gateway.
The South East England Regional Assembly will decide this month exactly where in those areas the new homes will be built.
The aim is to provide affordable homes for workers in the capital who have been priced out of the London market.
Mr Mitchell said more thought needed to be given to the region's infrastructure if the building project goes ahead.
"Without more investment in water supply and sewage treatment, millions of families living in the South East risk regular hosepipe bans and severe water shortages," he said.
"Water is the most basic of human needs, yet the government is forcing ever more houses on the South East without being sure where it is going to come from.
"There is a big question mark about infrastructure in the South East."
BBC News, 12th August 2004
