Nitrates Concerns Stop New Developments

There was much discussion at our July meeting about the Natural England concerns about new residential development in the Solent area being likely to increase nitrates in the harbours and thus harm wildlife. As a result, almost all new developments are being refused planning permission for fear of prosecution for breaching the Natural England guidance. As mentioned then, we were represented at a meeting with the council to discuss options and have subsequently been copied on a number of documents explaining the situation, sent from PCC to the Secretary of State.

Relevant extracts are included below...

From PCC CEO, David Williams to Lee Scott, DCLG:

"At a time when the lack of housing delivery is recognised to be a national crisis, Portsmouth and other Solent Authorities are being prevented from determining housing applications. Natural England (NE) has raised concerns that new residential development in the Solent could lead to increased eutrophication within the Solent"s designated European Sites.  NE"s position is that there is insufficient certainty that these impacts could be mitigated, and that planning permission should therefore be refused for such schemes.

Natural England have advised local authorities in the Solent region of the need for Appropriate Assessments and mitigation to ensure that there are no additional nitrates deposited in the Solent and contributing to eutrophication.  Essentially, there is a requirement for all new development proposals to demonstrate that they are 'nitrate neutral'. This advice follows recent European Case Law (the "Dutch" case).

In light of the case law, Natural England's advice to local planning authorities is that new developments need to demonstrate that they will be 'nitrate neutral'. As you will know, LPAs are duty bound to consider the 'advice' of Natural England in determining planning applications. There is a risk of JR if such advice is not given due consideration.

Whilst there remains much uncertainty about the verification and methodology for calculating nitrate levels, it is clear that residential development only accounts for around 20% of nitrates discharged into the Solent. The bulk of nitrate discharge (circa 80%) to the Solent is from agricultural practices and background nitrogen.

A consequence of Natural England's advice is that Portsmouth is unable to permit residential development proposals unless it can demonstrate and implement suitable mitigation.  English Nature are advocating taking land out of agricultural use as a means to achieve this - not straightforward for the second most built-up city in the country.  Grampian-style conditions are unlikely to suffice, although we are looking at this route whereby only a percentage of units in a scheme could be occupied.

The Council is committed to sustainable development and wants to see appropriate mitigations in place to preserve and enhance the quality of the environment and biodiversity.  However, this regime is having a significant impact on local housing needs, including affordable housing and our ability to meet nationally imposed housing delivery targets. It also places at risk a number of construction businesses in the local area with the consequent risk to jobs. 

The Council is working to establish appropriate mitigation (both alone and with our PUSH partners) so that we can start to issue planning consents for housing development again.  We have concerns about how long these mitigation solutions will take to deliver, how their cost will be met, and the interplay between government agencies demanding housing delivery on the one-hand and restricting development on the other.

There are a number of interventions Government could consider:
•       definitive guidance to local authorities and the development industry on this matter in terms of the legal position and in practical mitigation solutions in both the short and long-term.
•       facilitate appropriate regional level mitigation. This could take the form of "land banking" and Government could work with Homes England and other agencies to implement such a solution with local planning authorities.
•       require Southern Water to improve its treatment plants such that zero-nitrates are discharged into the Solent catchment from development. With the recent fine imposed on Southern Water by OFWAT, because of their significant compliance issues, it might be that this would be an appropriate use of this money.
•       recognise that development only contributes c20% of the nitrates problem. This would entail a longer-term strategy to change agricultural practices and encourage farmers to reduce the nitrogen fertilization and greater control on slurry. This can be achieved via regulation and enforcement.
•       Until Government resolves this conflict between conservation and development, it should exempt the affected local planning authorities from the punitive penalties on housing delivery targets.

The City Council is working hard and committing significant resources with its neighbours to resolve this unsatisfactory position.  Any help or insight you can give would be welcomed. "

After the meeting, the following press release was issued:

PRESS RELEASE

Nitrates in the Solent

Penny Mordaunt MP for Portsmouth North & Cllr Donna Jones Parliamentary Candidate Portsmouth South & Conservative Group Leader, met today with Rt Hon. Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

The meeting follows the extraordinary decision taken by local councils to cease issuing planning permissions for residential properties. This has resulted in a massive backlog of planning applications and the prospect of the much needed new homes across the PUSH area not being built. Worse still the knock-on effect to the construction trade is serious with many facing job losses if this continues. Portsmouth have not issued any planning applications since 1 May, but of the other councils, they have not granted permissions since 1 January.

Across the south Hampshire area, the level of nitrates in the water supply has been raised as an issue following a ruling by the European Courts at the end of 2018. This resulted in Natural England issuing a statement that previously acceptable levels of nitrates in water must be reduced by almost half. The ruling by the European Courts has caused havoc in the Solent with delayed planning allocations exceeding 500. Councils are considering mitigation solutions but the concern is with the speed with which the solutions are being carried out.

Penny Mordaunt MP said, "Everyone wants to protect the environment, but this decision isn"t about that. Portsmouth nitrate levels have been caused by farming decades ago. All this is doing is crushing the construction industry and failing to build much-needed homes on brownfield sites. The delays to the house building industry are already having a serious effect on our local economy. I"ve met with National house builders who have advised me they are going to have to let people go, and it will dramatically slow up the regeneration of areas like Tipner. Even worse they are pulling back from the Portsmouth area when considering development sites, this can"t continue. Today I have spoken to the Secretary of State about resolving this swiftly and speeding up the solution to get Portsmouth building again.."

Following the meeting, Cllr Donna Jones said, "Thousands of people who live in Portsmouth work in the building industry. The current approach has meant no residential planning applications have been issued in Portsmouth since the 1st of May. This can"t continue. I have met with residents and builders across Portsmouth fearful of losing their jobs and businesses. Today was about asking the Ministry for help to try and resolve this impasse and to work quickly to help Portsmouth and its residents."

Water reduction units across the city are being considered and this is welcomed by Penny and Donna. The key is protecting the environment in a way that doesn"t affect people"s livelihoods.

ENDS

We do have additional documentation related to this discussion which is loaded in the 'PDPLA Members Area' should you be interested.