An agreement has been met between Defra, Natural England, the Environment Agency and Southern Water to allow development to proceed. Discussions were led by Defra’s Water Delivery Taskforce, a forum of government departments, water companies, regulators and developers established to resolve issues like this one.

Building work had been halted in 2021 due to concerns over the amount of water that would be taken from rivers and wetlands in the Arun Valley, threatening protected wildlife and local water resources.

The new agreement will see Southern Water change its water abstraction permits to limit how much it takes from local rivers and wetlands, as well as provide funding to restore habitats.

Southern Water will cover these costs, not consumers.

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“This type of sustainable development clearly shows how we can build the new homes this country needs while restoring and protecting nature,” said Marian Spain, CEO at Natural England.

“A thriving natural environment is at the heart of a strong economy and is vital to all of our health and wellbeing.

“We know that people want to live near nature and cases like this where sound nature regulations prompted innovative solutions mean we can continue to make that possible.”

New homes in the area will also be built to a higher water efficiency standard in line with building regulation guidance for water scarce areas.

Previously stalled work on 4,000 homes will restart on 1st November while a further 17,000 are expected to be delivered.

“The breakthrough achieved in Sussex North demonstrates how through smart policy interventions we can unlock precisely the kind of win-win for development and nature that this government is committed to achieving,” said Matthew Pennycook, housing and planning minister.