The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has thanked the government for taking initial steps to address a planning issue that has held back development of new homes, but calls for speed in implementing solutions.
Natural England’s new Nutrient Mitigation Scheme and a new duty on water and sewerage companies in England to upgrade wastewater treatment works will open routes to allow local planning authorities to grant planning permission for new developments in areas with nutrient pollution issues.
Currently over a 100,000 homes are on hold because of nutrient neutrality rules, established to limit the impact of pollution on freshwater habitats such as rivers, wetlands and estuaries.
The new Scheme and duty would maintain protections for these sensitive areas while providing means for mitigation allowing developments to proceed.
The CLC had previously flagged the challenges that the nutrient neutrality issue was creating for developers. It notes that the key requirement is now rapid implementation of the measures announced so that the damage current planning restrictions are causing to housing delivery and to many builders and their supply chain can be ended.
>>Read more coverage from the CLC here.
