A lot has happened in the world of nutrients over the last year. But is this more hot air than action, or are we now firmly on the right track to solving this challenging and technically complex problem?
Since nutrient neutrality really hit in the Solent in 2019 it has caused an unprecedented effect on the planning system, effectively creating a moratorium on planning applications; and leaving under-resourced government departments and bodies, and the development industry as a whole, rallying to deal with it.
One of the reasons that it is such a complex issue is because of the multitude of different contributors (agriculture, waste water treatment works, certain types of new development) involved. However, nowhere has the impact been felt greater than the development industry with estimates of hundreds of thousands of homes (and other uses) being held up in the planning system across a broad range of geographies. A number of commentators and industry groups have quantified this impact on the economy and society, including the Home Builders Federation which has taken an active role in lobbying on the issue.
While the Government was initially slow to recognise the problem, momentum has been building and the development industry (including planning authorities and governmental groups) has worked together to combat the problem.
The big news from last year was that the Government had taken legislative action. Michael Gove introduced amendments to the Levelling up and Regeneration Bill (affectionately known as the ‘LURB’ in the planning world) to require waste water treatment companies to upgrade by 2030. This is intended to provide an infrastructural ultimate solution. However, it leaves a gap of seven years to find alternative methods to tackle the issue. So what is being done in the meantime?
KENT
In Kent, Ashford Borough Council recently announced that it has a number of schemes (including a live planning application) that could address the issue across the whole of the borough, and beyond. It is estimated that consents could start to be unlocked as early as this year, although there will still be further delays in the occupation of homes while the mitigation solutions mature. Interestingly, Dover has recently managed to extricate itself from the problem through further technical work.
TEES VALLEY
In the Tees area, Natural England opened its first tranche of bidding for nutrient credits sufficient to deliver 1,600 homes (400 dwellings per quarter from April 2023 to February 2024) with a view to expanding the scheme in the future. This was launched on a first come first served basis and required an up-to-date nutrient calculation with 60 per cent of credits reserved for smaller developments of 50 dwellings or under. This is obviously a very limited supply – and demand has been huge – but it shows encouraging signs that we are moving in the right direction. Savills has been successful in our bids for these credits on behalf of clients, with provisional credit certificates issued in late May. As such we are hopeful that housing delivery in the Tees Valley can begin to move forward once again.
NORFOLK
In the east, the Norfolk authorities have set up a joint venture with Anglian Water to trade credits. The company launched its credit trading platform in May; however, it does not expect to have any credits to trade until the summer, at the earliest. The quantity of credits and basis for distribution is yet to be confirmed. Many developers continue to investigate their own mitigation, particularly given the site specific nature of the Wensum catchment, and we have seen a willingness to grant permissions with major sites at Long Stratton, Dereham and Anglia Square in Norwich all receiving resolutions to grant permissions with technical nutrient solutions proposed.
There are plenty of moves afoot in other areas like the Solent, the South-West and Wales too.
So, there are signs of hope and, while nutrient neutrality will not be quick to resolve, progress is being made. Some of the issues that we still need to resolve, as an industry, include greater certainty on the price of credits; refinements to the nutrient calculator in relation to assumptions pertaining to numbers of people per household; and dealing with delivery on larger strategic schemes that have a build-out window beyond 2030.
So what have we learnt so far? The problem has underlined the fact that we need more strategic thinking in planning – river catchments do not follow administrative boundaries. The issue has also highlighted the amount of cross-industry work involved between different bodies (e.g. Natural England, the Environment Agency) and different sectors.
We need to change the way we plan for the environment and think strategically about the delivery of mitigation across borders, sectors and stakeholders. Partly this could be addressed by greater strategic planning and thinking of environmental infrastructure in a similar way to other types of infrastructure such as road and rail. We are also seeing potential efficiencies through credit stacking between biodiversity and nutrients which will provide further financial incentive. All of this is encouraging. However, with all of the wider uncertainty in the planning industry at the moment, this change of approach seems like it could be some way off.
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