Recommendation 36

New towns will require a constant supply of water, energy and digital connectivity for their new inhabitants. Unfortunately (and deeply regrettably) this presents a challenge for the Government, because of decades of poor planning and a lack of effective preparation for the future. A changing climate, an increase in extreme weather events, greater demands for digital technologies and a move towards an electrified economy have all been predicted for decades, and yet vulnerabilities in the UK utilities sector—sometimes caused by these changes—continue to be exposed. As such, any construction of new towns will coincide with times of scarcity and fragility for our national system of utilities, driven by the entirely predictable interplay of increasing demand and static supply.