Thousands of new houses unlocked as Partnership welcomes £16.4 million nutrient neutrality grant
Three local Planning authorities across Cumbria are working together to unlock stalled house-building due to nutrient neutrality rules have welcomed a £16.4 million grant from government to tackle the issue.
Westmorland and Furness Council, the Lake District National Park Authority and Cumberland Council who are the three local planning authorities in Cumbria, have been awarded a capital grant of £15.2m and revenue grant of £1,231,346 from the Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund to progress plans to mitigate nutrient neutrality issues in affected catchment areas across Cumbria.
Nutrient neutrality requires that new housing, tourism and other developments in certain areas should not add more 'nutrient pollution' to the water catchment, particularly the level of phosphates entering watercourses.
To achieve nutrient neutrality, and the subsequent planning approval, a project must add no additional phosphorus, through water pollution, and where it would, must provide mitigation measures upstream that will offset any increase in phosphorus levels entering the catchment.
In Cumbria there are currently approximately 3,600 stalled homes and 13,000 further homes planned.
Cllr Virginia Taylor, Westmorland and Furness’s cabinet member for Sustainable Communities and Localities, said: “I welcome this significant funding, which empowers us to develop and deliver solutions that unlock much-needed housing, including affordable options, across the affected catchments in Cumbria.
“We estimate that, across our areas, at least 13,000 homes are either currently stalled in the planning process or will face future challenges due to nutrient neutrality requirements. Delivering solutions such as land use changes, private sewerage upgrades, treatment wetlands and riparian buffers will enable the development of these homes and ensure we protect our precious habitat sites.
“This initiative will help us achieve our strategic goals, foster economic growth and safeguard our environment.
“We are committed to working closely with our partners and the development industry to accelerate the delivery of these solutions. Together, we will navigate the necessary processes to ensure our solutions are robust, cost-effective and that the right legal frameworks are in place to provide long term benefits.”
Steve Ratcliffe, Director of Sustainable Development at the Lake District National Park Authority, said: "This is great news for Cumbria, resulting from our Cumbrian local planning authorities working together tirelessly to find solutions to this significant challenge. This now allows us to work with our communities, landowners, and developers to bring forward innovative solutions to progress nutrient neutrality while supporting much-needed housing, including affordable housing here in the National Park. This funding helps bring us a step closer to our vision of a thriving Lake District where economic growth and environmental conservation go hand in hand."
In March 2022, Natural England informed the Cumbria authorities that a number of protected river catchments were in "unfavourable" condition and that any development potentially adding phosphorous into the catchments must provide mitigation to prevent or offset this and become nutrient neutral.
The river catchments affected include the river Eden special area of conservation that has since 2022 seen a number of local housing development plans stalled around Penrith and across Eden.
The Cumbrian partnership formed to respond to the issue, which also includes Natural England, the Environment Agency and United Utilities, the group produced a plan to identify the extent of the problem, identify and develop strategic mitigation solutions, and put in place processes for dealing with the issue.
Potential activities identified in the funding bid include measures such as: Wetlands, Riparian buffers, Changes of land use, Woodlands, Additional tertiary treatment adjoining water treatment works, Septic tank/package treatment plant upgrades.
Other potential solutions are also being investigated by the partnership.
A market for Nutrient Neutrality credits will be developed, which will allow developers to buy credits that are backed by strategic mitigation initiatives that are provided by the local authorities or the private sector. At present developers are having to find ways of providing mitigation for their development. These proposals are then assessed by the council and approved as part of the planning application process.
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