Environmental campaigners hit out at Rishi Sunak’s government after it confirmed that EU-era restrictions that force housebuilders to mitigate the impact of new developments on rivers will be scrapped.
Levelling up secretary Michael Gove defended plans to scrap “clunky” EU-era environmental protections on nutrient neutrality – hailing it as a Brexit benefit to boost housing.
Mr Gove said it was a “myth” that water quality in British rivers has deteriorated under the Conservative government, saying they “all cleaner than they have been in the past”.
The government has argued that housing developments contribute only a small fraction of nutrient pollution and new funding is being provided to mitigate any associated increase.
But environmental campaigners accused the government of going back on its word and suggested the change would allow developers to cut corners, branding it a “disgraceful move”.
Speaking on a visit to a new-build housing estate near Norwich, Mr Sunak told broadcasters that the boost to housebuilding would be “fantastic for young, first-time buyers”.
Current nutrient neutrality rules prevent developers from building houses in protected areas when it would add harmful substances like nitrogen and phosphorus into nearby rivers and lakes, because such nutrients can cause algal blooms that deprive other plants and animals of light and oxygen.
Under legislation derived from the EU, Natural England currently issues guidance to 62 local authority areas, requiring new developments to be nutrient neutral in their area. This requirement will now be watered down to become guidance.
Changes will see the financial burden to mitigate nutrient pollution for new housing shifted from developers to taxpayers – with the government promising to double investment in the nutrient mitigation scheme run by Natural England, to £280m. A further £166m will be allocated for slurry infrastructure grants.
Government facing bcklash from anti-sewage protesters
The changes are being proposed via an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill which is currently going through the House of Lords, with the government claiming it could see additional homes being built in a matter of months.
Mr Gove said: “The way EU rules have been applied has held us back. These changes will provide a multibillion-pound boost for the UK economy and see us build more than 100,000 new homes.”
But Greenpeace UK policy director Dr Doug Parr said: “Who would look at our sickly, sewage-infested rivers and conclude that what they need is weaker pollution rules? No one.”
They added: “Instead of allowing house builders to cut corners, the Sunak administration should make sure we have the right infrastructure to handle our sewage so we can build new homes without sacrificing our rivers’ health.”
And chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts, Craig Bennett, said ministers had broken promises to “not lower environmental protections or standards”.
He said: “Just a few weeks later they are planning to do precisely the opposite. They lied – this is a disgraceful move which undermines public trust in this government.”
Feargal Sharkey said the plan was a ‘complete and utter shambles’
Clean rivers campaigner Feargal Sharkey has described the government’s scrapping of pollution rules as “a complete and utter shambles” and that “the environment has now been left to fend for itself.”
Speaking to BBC’s World at One, he said: “This morning the last vestiges of any pretence that this government is in any way actually interested in the environment has now just been shredded. In the words of Zac Goldsmith … this government actually isn’t really interested in the environment.”
“It’s a widespread myth that somehow the quality of our water has deteriorated,” Mr Gove also told Times Radio. “Of course, our rivers aren’t as clean as they should be, but they all cleaner than they have been in the past.”
Conservative former environment secretary Theresa Villiers said she welcomed the plan, as did Tory former housing secretary Simon Clarke.
Mr Clarke said on X, formerly known as Twitter, “This is NOT an attack on nature. New homes aren’t the problem – it’s poor management by our water companies and (to some extent) farming practices.”
Shares in housebuilders rose sharply on the London market at the prospect of strict planning rules being eased. Charles Church builder Persimmon saw its stock jump more than 4 per cent on the FTSE 100 Index, with Barratt Developments up 3 per cent and Taylor Wimpey nearly 3 per cent higher.
Executive chair of the Home Builders Federation Stewart Baseley welcomed the move to “unlock” new housing. “The industry is eager to play its part in delivering mitigation and protecting our waterways.”
He added: We look forward to engaging with government on the right way to do so, now that ministers are acting upon the arguments that builders both large and small have been making for so long.”
