More homes on the same old pipes. More sewage in our rivers when it rains.
Anglian Water region
What we can show
In 2024 Anglian Water recorded 43,919 storm overflows lasting 448,937 hours. 2025 spills were much lower, partly because it was a dry year, so the 2024 total is the figure that shows what a wet year does to the old network.
- 2024 overflow hours (verify against EA EDM data) — older record, not a current count
- Anglian Water EDM data 2025
How sprawl adds to this
Another estate on the same works and the same combined sewers is another load when it rains. The permission rarely has to show spare storm capacity. The river takes it.
What a larger settlement can do
A larger planned settlement can be built with separated drainage and new treatment, so it does not load the old network. That does not clean Anglian's existing overflows on its own. It stops adding more homes onto pipes that already spill.
The pattern is fewer, larger places with infrastructure first, not another estate on the edge of every village.
How to stop urban sprawl · Water · All cumulative harms · Corrections
We can stop this
We want building concentrated in fewer, larger places with schools, health, water and transport built in — not another estate on the edge of every village.
Sign the petition
678 people in the East of England have already signed.
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