Anglian Water is proposing a new reservoir project in Lincolnshire that will be determined by the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. Although the main site of the reservoir is located within the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, some of the associated infrastructure enters Cambridgeshire in the Sawtry and Stilton ward.
Latest news
The Lincs Reservoir phase three consultation is taking place between 21 October and 16 December 2026, running for 8 weeks in total. Local communities and other relevant stakeholders are invited to feedback on the proposals and take part in consultation engagement events, which are scheduled throughout November 2026. A list of events can be found on Anglian Water’s webpage for the project.
Overview
The project falls into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) process defined through the Planning Act 2008 (as amended) and will be considered under Part 3 Section 27 of the legislation because the reservoir is located in England and the volume of water stored in the reservoir will exceed 30 million cubic meters (see Section 27(1)(c) of the 2008 Act).
Responsibility for accepting and examining the NSIP application rests with the Secretary of State and not the local authorities, who are identified as statutory consultees, or 'host' authorities, in the NSIP process.
There are 8 'host' local planning authorities involved in this NSIP project falling in to two categories:
- Main site
- Lincolnshire County Council
- North Kesteven District Council
- Associated infrastructure
- Boston Borough Council
- West Lindsey District Council
- South Kesteven District Council
- Cambridgeshire County Council
- Peterborough City
- Huntingdonshire District Council
Cambridgeshire County Council is identified as a host planning authority as some of the associated infrastructure (for example pipelines and pumping stations) falls within the county council boundary.
The 'host' local planning authorities will aim to work together as far as possible to ensure full scrutiny of this project is undertaken.
Consultation
Non-Statutory Consultation Phase 1: 12 October 2022 to 21 December 2022
This was the first consultation on the proposed reservoir and associated infrastructure.
Non-Statutory Consultation Phase 2: 30 May 2024 to 9 August 2024
The second phase of non-statutory consultation (Community Consultations) took place between 30 May 2024, and 9 August 2024. Feedback from the Phase two consultation has been published by Anglian Water on their website
Consultation Phase 3: 21 October 2026 and 16 December 2026 (current consultation).
Further information about the consultation can be found on Anglian Water's website for this project.
Have your say
It is important to note that as the 'host' planning authorities are not the determining authorities, any correspondence in relation to this matter needs to be directed to Anglian Water in the first instance and then the Planning Inspectorate.
For further details of the NSIP process for this project, please visit the Lincolnshire Reservoir Project information on the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) website.
If you would like to receive regular updates from Anglian Water on the Lincolnshire Reservoir, please register for updates.
