First Environmental Delivery Plan targets nutrient pollution in Norfolk

(by Karma Loveday)

Natural England has published for consultation until 27 October the first Environmental Delivery Plan (EDP) deploying the new Nature Restoration Fund. The scheme will see developers fund large scale improvements to rivers and wetlands in Norfolk to more than offset the nutrient pollution that will be created by the construction and habitation of 15,780 new homes in the county.

Instead of remediating impact at site level, developers will pay a levy which Natural England will use to deliver large-scale improvements in the catchment areas of central and eastern Norfolk where the new houses are to be built. Such areas include the River Wensum, Bure Broads and Marshes, and Yare Broads and Marshes catchments. Government said this will not only offset the impact of development but deliver overall improvement, supporting species including otters, white-clawed crayfish, bitterns, marsh harriers and fen orchids.

Environment secretary Angela Eagle commented: “This government rejects the false trade-off between delivering infrastructure and restoring our environment. Our plans are a win-win for development and nature, unlocking thousands of new homes and raising millions to improve our natural environment.”

Richard Benwell, chief executive of the Wildlife and Countryside Link coalition, said: “EDPs are a calculated risk for nature, trading some of the certainty of site-by-site protection for the potential rewards of restoration at a much bigger scale. Defra must make sure the odds are stacked in nature’s favour, and this first plan will be an important test of whether the concept can work for nature and development.”

A change.org petition in response to the EDP asked a more immediate question: “15,780 new homes – where will the hedgehogs go?” It argued that when hedgerow and scrub “disappear beneath roads, concrete and housing, creating habitat miles away does not give them back to the hedgehogs that depended on them. We cannot restore nature by destroying it in one place and promising to improve it somewhere else. Local wildlife needs local protection.”

The petition called for developers to retain appropriate mitigation, protect valuable existing habitats and maintain the corridors that allow wildlife to move safely through new communities as they are built.

Natural England is developing EDPs for other areas of the country where housebuilding is impacted by nutrient pollution in rivers. Government said further details on these will be published shortly.