We are a partnership project comprising members from Cumberland Council, Environment Agency, Lake District National Park Authority, Natural England, United Utilities and Westmorland and Furness Council. We are supported by the Planning Advisory service. Our aim is to:
Photo Credits: Photo 1 in slider - Common Hawker C/o Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Photo 3 - Bog Asphodel C/o Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Photo 10 - Derwent Water looking torwards Cat Bells C/o West Cumbria Rivers Trust
Natural England, the organisation tasked with protecting biodiversity and ecosystems in England, is trying to protect freshwater rivers and lakes that are currently in good condition with low levels of nutrients. It is also trying to ensure any rivers and lakes that are currently in a poor condition aren’t made worse through further nutrient pollution.
In 2022 Natural England introduced new guidance in relation to four water catchments in the Lake District (and others across the country), which means new developments must not add any extra nutrients, in particular phosphates, to these catchments.
If a proposed development is going to increase nutrient levels, for example adding new houses to the area, it must have a way of removing the same amount of nutrients from somewhere else in that catchment. This is called nutrient neutrality. The catchment areas that now need Nutrient Neutrality information to be included along with their planning applications are;
Further information on each catchment, including the Natural England Evidence Packs and Catchment Maps can be found on each individual catchment page.
Nutrient Neutrality information is required before a planning application is validated where the proposed development is in one of the catchment areas. See our Nutrient Neutrality FAQs for further detail.
Supported by Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Lake District National Park Authority is working with Cumberland Council, Natural England, The Environment Agency, United Utilities, Westmorland and Furness Council and other partners and local planning authorities to identify and promote strategic mitigation options and solutions across affected catchments. This will support the delivery of Local Planning Authorities’ spatial strategies and enable the unlocking of existing planning applications and future proposals (particularly in respect of housing and tourism provision) without unacceptable impact upon nature conservation interests.
This work will run alongside Natural England's strategic mitigation project until Spring 2025 and;
Ricardo AEA has produced a Nutrient Mitigation Solutions Report which considers the four catchments listed above. The report, amongst other things, identifies the main sources of nutrient pollution and recommends a number of mitigation solutions to offset stalled and future development. Please note that the information on source apportionment may differ to that held by the Environment Agency as different methodologies have been used.
The Report has been redacted in accordance with the Environmental Information and GDPR Regulations to remove any personal data such as signatures or private addresses. Commercially sensitive information, such as costings, have also been removed. The following Redaction Statement provides further information.
An update to the Mitigation Solutions Report is currently being commissioned. This will assess the impacts of proposed United Utilities improvements at Wastewater Treatment Works which will affect the amount of mitigation that needs to be delivered to offset stalled and future development post 2030. The updated report will have a baseline of 1st April 2024 and will also consider the latest data available from elsewhere.
Robin Miller of Understanding Data has completed a review of the occupancy rate figure used in the Natural England calculator.
The alternative figures recommended by Robin have been assessed and approved by Natural England as evidenced in the letter below.
The new figures in the report can now therefore be used in the Nutrient Calculators.
Letter of support from Natural England
Natural England identify the replacement of inefficient septic tanks and PTPs as a potential means of offsetting the nutrient impacts of new developments. A Guidance Note for developers has been produced which includes further information and is available to download:
Letter from the Chief Planner from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to all planning authorities affected,16 March 2022.
The Catchment Nutrients Officer produces updates on the Nutrient Neutrality project. These are listed below:
