Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what principles will guide decisions on water allocation where the water requirements of major infrastructure projects may potentially conflict with environmental flow requirements for protected habitats and chalk streams.

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should protect and enhance valued landscapes and sites of biodiversity, which includes Chalk Streams. We have also set out more clearly expectations for development proposals to assess and mitigate adverse impacts to water quality on these sensitive waterbodies.