Extra investment in water and sewage capacity will be needed if expansion at Harlow North is to go ahead, Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Chris Millington told the full council this evening. He went on:

"We understand that further discussions are to take place between the East of England Regional Assembly, the Government Office for the East of England, the Environment Agency and the water companies with a view to submitting a further paper to the Examination in Public Panel on these issues. The Panel have asked that the paper be submitted in time to be discussed ... next week. Clearly from the statements already made, there will be a need for further infrastructure investment both in relation to water resources and sewage capacity to deal with growth - and Harlow's position has always been clear, that growth cannot and should not take place without the necessary infrastructure being provided."

Cllr Millington also responded to a question about Harlow Conservatives' 'alternative budget' proposals on 16 February.

"I was disappointed that a formal amendment was not moved by the Conservative Group highlighting their changes to the Administration's budget, which I believe would have helped the debate. The lack of an amendment and the partial list of changes read out during the debate meant that the figures didn't add up and hampered a proper consideration of the opposition's proposals."