Nutrient Neutrality Update 30.08.2023
Key Updates
Norfolk Environmental Credits Ltd (NEC) will be releasing the first set of credits for the River Yare catchment in the next few weeks.
No target date has been set for the Bure and Wensum Catchments.
Site information must have been submitted to NEC to be put on the waiting list.
NEC will prioritize sites with the lowest phosphate discharge and have been delayed the longest.
The cost of credits has still not been released.
3000 homes are expected to be able to be determined following the first credit issue.
Micheal Gove and Rishi Sunaks visit to Hethersett should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Norfolk Environmental Credits Ltd (NEC)
NEC has stated on their website and we have been informed by some local authorities that over the coming weeks applications will be invited to purchase NN credits for off site mitigation. Two key points must be considered in this first issue:
These credits relate only to sites within the Yare river Catchment and/or Whitlingham water treatment plant.
Information must have been submitted to NEC to be included on their waiting list.
If we are acting as your agent for an application and your application is on hold due to NN we will have submitted your application to NEC in May of this year when their website first came online.
NEC has stated they will allocate credits prioritizing sites with the lowest phosphate needs that have faced the most extended delays due to NN. To facilitate this it is imperative the NN budget calculator is completed and submitted to both the Planning Authority and NEC.
NEC believe their first issue will release some 3000 homes currently stuck in the planning system. However this falls some way short of the estimated 16000 homes on hold in the region in May this year.
EPD article 29th August
You may have seen the recent EDP article detailing the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Levelling Up visit to Taylor Wimpey’s development in Hethersett where they announced their intention to overturn Nutrient Neutrality (NN) as an amendment to the Levelling up and regeneration bill which is imminently to be signed into law.
This should be taken with a large pinch of salt as it is this practices opinion that the government does not hold the power to overturn NN. This is because the issue stems from a European Court of Justice decision from 2018 in the Netherlands (known as the ‘Dutch Nitrogen Case’). This Practice suspects that even if an amendment to the Bill is passed a UK Supreme Court case will be raised immediately but environmental campaigners and possibly Natural England itself to reinstate NN.