Recommendation 46

Building new towns, connecting them to utilities and then populating them—but without ensuring that they have a sustainable supply of water and energy—would constitute a risk to national resilience. This would be irresponsible. Mr Colville alerted the Committee to the lack of minimum standards for water utilities in relation to resilience. He said that “there are no rules about single sources of supply” 71 for water connections to new towns, meaning that a settlement could have only one connection to the water mains, making it more vulnerable to damage or sabotage. Mr Colville warned the Committee “do not have a massive town with a single water connection going into it.” 72