Liberal Democrat East Hampshire parliamentary candidate Dominic Martin and Lib Dem Cllr Ginny Boxall talk about water supply issues in Alton

The availability of water in the northern part of the East Hampshire constituency, including the Alton area, has come under increasing scrutiny following South East Water's response to Basingstoke’s Local Plan.
South East Water stated that the area known as WRZ4 - which covers Basingstoke and extends into parts of Alton and the surrounding area - is forecast to face a supply-demand deficit. In simple terms, this means that the amount of water available, much of it drawn from local chalk aquifers, is not expected to keep pace with local growth.
This raises serious questions, not only about the long-term resilience of water supplies for existing customers especially, for example, in times of drought, but also about whether the area can sustainably accommodate new housing development on the scale currently being envisaged.