LOCAL MP Andrew Murrison has welcomed the government’s plans to scrap water pollution legislation so 100,000 more houses can be built across the country as he says the current rules around ‘nutrient neutrality’ are preventing young people from getting a place of their own.
But the government plans have come under fire from environmental campaigners who say taxpayers will have to pick up the cost of increased pollution.
Current rules mean that local authorities across the country cannot allow new developments unless it can be proved that the projects are nutrient neutral which requires them to not add any additional nutrients to the surrounding water that could reduce the water quality, harm wildlife or cause excess algae growth.
The government is trying to scrap these rules through an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill and claims that the removal of these restrictions will allow developers to deliver an extra £18bn in economic activity as well as 100,000 new houses.
The government also says it will double its investment to the Nutrient Mitigation Scheme to £280 million to offset the nutrient discharge from the new houses. The move has been welcomed by housebuilders and Conservative MPs who argue that pollution from new houses is minimal.
“I welcome the extra £280 million just announced for reducing watercourse nutrients and improve the health of rivers,” said Andrew Murrison. “However, new homes contribute very little to nutrient run-off in rivers. Legacy EU law is stopping new homes being built and preventing young people getting a place of their own. It must go.”
Concerns
Environmental groups have raised concerns that the plans will result in taxpayers picking up the cost of pollution down the line and the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust has described the government’s plans to scrap sewage pollution legislation as ‘short-sighted’.
Jo Lewis, CEO of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, says, “In exempting housebuilders from playing their part in preventing more nutrients polluting our precious rivers, the government is simply transferring more of the burden to farmers and to the public via higher taxes and water bills.
“The public has made clear their outrage about the state of our rivers, and now here they are to pick up the bill for simply stopping housebuilders from making the situation worse. This is one more broken government promise on the environment, and short-sighted in the extreme. A one-off injection of funds to compensate will not rescue our rivers.”
A Wiltshire Wildlife Trust spokesperson added, “Every new house built results in more sewage being produced, whilst sewage works are already failing, with repeated discharges of raw sewage. Even when treated, the effluent from sewage works is adding harmful nutrients, which causes an increased growth of algae. This results in decreased levels of dissolved oxygen, which can choke our rivers, killing fish and other aquatic life. Chalk streams, with their diverse ecosystems, are particularly vulnerable to nutrient pollution.
“Under these proposed changes to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, instead of making developers pay to offset their pollution, the government will increase funding to the nutrient mitigation scheme run by Natural England – meaning that taxpayers rather than builders will pay to prevent pollution.”
To read more about the plans visit https://www. gov.uk/government/news/100000-more-homes-to-be-built-via-reform-of-defective-eu-laws
