Housebuilding adds to the nutrient pollution already affecting our rivers and coasts in both England and Wales– lots of extra people flushing toilets means lots of extra sewage. In a ‘Brexit Bonus’ for housing developers, Rishi Sunak’s UK Government has announced plans to weaken the rules that prevent pollution of some of our most important wildlife sites.  

The UK Government will use the England-only Levelling-Up Bill, currently passing through the UK Parliament. This will seek to weaken the Habitats Regulations (the rules protecting internationally important wildlife sites including rivers) which apply to England and Wales. Now, when local authorities consider planning applications, they must ‘assume that nutrients in urban wastewater from the potential development… will not adversely affect the relevant site.’ This means that the requirement to offset wastewater pollution will no longer be required after housebuilders in England complained that the pollution-limiting requirements were ‘costly and time-consuming.’ 

But claims that these rules created a ‘housing moratorium’ are disingenuous. In England, the UK Government, Local Authorities and others have already established schemes that allow developers to pay to offset the nutrients by reducing other sources of water pollution locally, meaning that the development would be ‘nutrient-neutral’ on balance. This nitrate trading has meant planning permissions have been granted, safe in the knowledge that the new housing nitrates would not increase water pollution. But these protections are set to be scrapped.

In Wales, there are currently no nutrient trading schemes, although the Welsh Government is looking into this approach as part of its action plan, led by the First Minister, to address the deterioration of river quality in Wales. They state that they want to increase “our understanding of practical measures within catchments which Nutrient Trading could provide.” They are also looking at “the development of a unified nutrient calculator to directly aid planning decisions on nutrient neutrality which will have the ability to take account of catchment level data, local features, and needs.” They also want to take a “unified approach to catchment consenting in failing Special Areas of Conservation rivers (rivers with rare wildlife).” All these approaches are designed to ultimately mitigate any harm caused by development in water catchments where river quality is currently of a poor standard. Wildlife Trusts Wales is encouraged to learn that that the Welsh Government remains committed to improving the health of rivers in Wales and has no intention of rowing back on environmental protections.

What is particularly concerning is that the UK Government has moved to alter the Habitats Regulations without consulting the Welsh Government. The Habitats Directive was adopted in 1992. Its overall objective is to ensure that over a thousand species and habitat types are maintained or restored to favourable conservation status. In addition, it was intended to halt the further decline or disappearance of these species and habitats and to allow them to recover and thrive over the long term. There has been no debate within the UK Parliament or the Senedd in Wales about these proposed significant changes to the Habitat Directive and its regulations, which is deeply concerning.

Nature is in crisis – and the UK Government’s proposals place fragile rivers in England and our natural world at greater risk. Rivers in England flow along the Welsh border and into our seas, which will impact Wales. Therefore, Wales must stand firm in its approach to dealing with the pollution of Welsh rivers and upholding the Habitat Regulations, which provides vital legal protection for our threatened wildlife and important sites for nature.