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Sussex North Offsetting Water Scheme (SNOWS)

Sussex North Offsetting Water Scheme, or SNOWS, is a water offsetting initiative led by the Sussex North authorities located in Southern Water’s Sussex North Water Resource Zone (WRZ): Horsham District Council, Chichester District Council, Crawley Borough Council, Mid Sussex District Council, South Downs National Park Authority and West Sussex County Council.

The scheme will provide applicants with an affordable, accessible way to access offsetting ‘credits’ to deliver necessary housing and other development to support local plan growth while meeting water neutrality requirements.

SNOWS will ensure that the savings generated by Southern Water in their next Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) are not over-allocated and we will develop our own capacity to provide additional offsetting credits by installing, monitoring, and maintaining water saving measures elsewhere in the WRZ.

Whilst water neutrality requirements are compulsory for developers or applicants seeking approval for new water-consumptive development, the use of SNOWS for offsetting is optional. Developers and applicants have the freedom to choose whether they prefer to utilise SNOWS or implement their own water offsetting solutions that align with water neutrality requirements.

SNOWS proposes to use a variety of targeted offsetting measures, including installing water efficiency devices into residential properties, public buildings, and commercial premises, with further potential to migrate outdoor leisure facilities away from mains water supplies for irrigation purposes through on-site storage. These measures will be carefully designed to balance the additional water usage from new developments in the region.

Applicants with approved developments (see below) will be able to access SNOWS to purchase ‘water credits’ to offset any remaining water use of their new developments after they have taken steps to reduce the water use of their developments in line with the Sussex North authorities' local plan water neutrality policies, and subject to the scheme having available capacity.

How to access SNOWS

We are still finalising the access criteria and processes, so we cannot provide full details at this stage. Once we have finalised our procedures, we will publish further guidance for applicants on this page.

The current design of the scheme will rely on developers requesting access to SNOWS at the application stage, at which point the application will be prioritised against the current available capacity in the scheme. If there is sufficient capacity to meet the development’s needs, the applicant will be able to secure their access to SNOWS credits. If the application is granted and credits are paid for in full, SNOWS offsetting capacity will be allocated to the application allowing any relevant water neutrality obligations to be met.  If there is insufficient capacity in the scheme to meet the development's needs, the applicant and Development Officer will be notified.  The applicant may then need to consider an alternative offsetting solution to SNOWS or await further capacity becoming available in the SNOWS scheme.

We also aim to launch a SNOWS pre-app scheme, allowing developers to access SNOWS prior to submitting their application, however this will be after the launch of the main scheme.

SNOWS will allocate applications against a combination of Southern Water’s WRMP baseline water savings, to ensure they are not over-allocated, and SNOWS’ own offsetting water savings.

The costs of SNOWS credits comprise only the scheme operating costs and SNOWS offsetting activities. SNOWS will not be charging for any part of Southern Water’s Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) baseline, because this is already funded by Southern Water.

Which developments can access SNOWS Water Credits

Applicants will be able to access SNOWS for their development’s water offsetting needs, unless it is:

  1. Development where the principle is not in accordance with an adopted development plan, or in a post-submission local plan or neighbourhood plan. This includes housing development outside settlement boundaries on unallocated sites, employment development on unallocated sites and/or outside of existing employment sites (unless supported by economic planning policies), or development not otherwise accepted in-principle by way of specific development plan policies – such policies include: retirement and specialist care, gypsy and traveller sites, tourism, and some minerals and waste development; and/or
  2. Development permitted by virtue of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (or as subsequently amended) (GPDO)*

* Excluding applications submitted to SNOWS for development by a local authority (as defined in Schedule 2, Part 12 of the GDPO)

When will SNOWS launch?

We aim to launch SNOWS in Spring 2025. However, we anticipate low credit availability through 2025 until Southern Water’s Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) is adopted.

SNOWS costs

SNOWS access costs are currently being finalised in line with the latest Southern Water and local planning authority data.  This page will be updated with final costs once confirmed.

Offsetting opportunities

SNOWS is currently seeking offsetting opportunities in the Sussex North Water Resource Zone. If you own or are an agent for a property or client that may be interested in water saving opportunities, please contact us via SNOWS@horsham.gov.uk.