Nutrient Neutrality

On 16 March 2022 the council received a letter from Natural England concerning nutrient pollution in the protected habitats of river catchment areas where some parts are within Westmorland and Furness. There are four of these catchment areas.

The most significant for development in our area is the River Eden catchment, which is designated as a Special Area of Conservation. More information on the first three of these catchments can be found on our partnership website: Nutrient Neutrality North West hosted by Lake District National Park Authority.

Each of these catchments is affected by excess phosphorus that needs to be controlled to prevent further deterioration of water quality.

The fourth catchment relates to the Tees and is affected by an excess of nitrogen. For development in this catchment please refer to Natural England’s website: Nutrient mitigation scheme.

Information on Individual catchments, including maps, and links to Natural England nutrient calculators for working out phosphorus loads and mitigation requirements for each development, can be found at:

• River Eden Special Area of Conservation
• River Kent Special Area of Conservation (Note: Changes were made to the affected catchment boundary in July 2024)
• River Derwent and Bassenthwaite Lake Special Area
• Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast Special Protection Area/Ramsar

The letter advised that within the identified catchment areas of these protected habitats, certain types of new development such as housing have the potential to cause adverse impacts through nutrient pollution.

The Conservation of Species and Habitats Regulations (2017) require local planning authorities to ensure that new development does not cause adverse impacts to protected habitats prior to granting planning permission. As a result, when determining planning applications, we must now ensure that relevant developments within the identified catchment areas do not increase nutrient levels, and such development can only proceed if it can be demonstrated to be ‘nutrient neutral’. Information on how this is to be calculated has been supplied to us by Natural England.

Types of development affected

• New overnight accommodation (including new dwellings, Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs), new camping, glamping or caravan pitches served by on-site toilet or washing facilities, or new hotel bedroom accommodation)
• New tourism development which is likely to increase the number of day visitors to a premises
• Agricultural development which will result in an increase in stock numbers
• Anaerobic digesters
• All other developments (excluding householder extensions but including commercial developments) – where on-site overnight accommodation is provided

Any other very significant commercial developments that attract people as visitors or for employment from outside the catchment area will need to be considered on their individual circumstances.  You are advised to discuss these at an early stage with Planning Officers before submitting a planning application.

Types of applications affected

The requirement to demonstrate Nutrient Neutrality applies to all full and outline planning applications for the types of development set out above.

In light of the recent Fry Judgement, it also applies to reserved matters applications and applications to discharge pre-commencement planning conditions where Nutrient Neutrality has not previously been considered at earlier stages of the decision-making process. This includes the undertaking of an Appropriate Assessment of the development.

Classes of permitted development which require “prior approval” from the Local Planning Authority, falling within the types of development identified above, will also need to demonstrate Nutrient Neutrality.

The Prior Approval decision notice issued for an applicable development will include an informative saying that prior to commencement of the development, a Regulation 77 application should be made to demonstrate that the proposal is nutrient neutral and to secure the appropriate mitigation where necessary.

Since receipt of Natural England’s letter, we have been working hard with partners to minimise delay and uncertainty in regards to planning applications. This work includes the development of a county-wide nutrient mitigation strategy. This is being used to identify both short term solutions to help clear the current backlog of planning permissions and longer-term solutions to address the existing and future growth commitments.

What you need to do

To enable the Local Planning Authority to establish if your proposal is Nutrient Neutral through the Habitat Regulations Screening & Appropriate Assessment, applicants must provide a completed Nutrient Neutrality Budget Calculator, evidence of secured mitigation (where applicable) and a Nutrient Neutrality Statement.

For more details refer to the following information:

• Further details on establishing the Nutrient Budget of the development
• Further details on identifying and securing Nutrient Mitigation
• Summary of Approach   

Submission of these documents is also now a validation requirement for all applicable types of planning application.

Contact details:

Planning Services
Email: Planning2@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk
Address: Westmorland and Furness Council, Voreda House, Portland Place, Penrith CA11 7BF

Additional Information:

Mansion House is closed to the public until further notice. Please telephone 0300 373 3300 to contact members of staff.