Abstract:
Water Cycle Strategies (WCS) have been developed for various areas of the UK. WCSs
gather an evidence base which should assist with the promotion of sustainable water
management and compliance with important legislation such as the Water Framework
Directive (WFD). WCSs also provide evidence which influences the development of
local spatial planning policy.
This research explored the WCS process undertaken for Milton Keynes (England). The
intention of this research was to critically assess the WCS process and its current
relevance to sustainable water management, namely WFD compliance. In order to
critically assess the WCS process, and to assess its potential and implications for the
future of sustainable water management within spatial planning, this research was
conducted in three stages and included several organisations, both regulators and
regulated.
The WCS process is new in spatial planning in England and is rapidly evolving due to
several factors identified by this thesis, such as reforming of the spatial planning
process or compliance with the WFD. The WCS process affects the influence of
different stakeholders, social learning, inter-sectoral joined-up work, and the need for
catchment specific evidence base. These aspects influence the outcomes of the WCS
process locally, and should also aid implementation of sustainable water management in
growth areas regionally and nationally.
This study has indentified and analysed the influence of the WCS process so as to
critically assess and discuss it. The thesis provides the reader with an insight into how
sustainable water management, namely WFD compliance, may be realised in integrated
spatial planning in the case of urban growth areas in England.