Natural England’s first nutrient clean-up set for Tees catchment

The first mitigation projects to run under Natural England’s new Nutrient Mitigation Scheme are currently being negotiated with two partners in the Tees catchment, the government said in an update on its July plan to mitigate nutrient pollution in sensitive catchments. The scheme allows development were its nutrient load is offset by investment in projects like wetlands and woodlands.

Natural England said it will invite applications from developers for mitigation credits in the Tees before the end of March 2023, and that investment in feasibility studies in five further catchments is underway to determine the scheme’s next mitigation sites.

In England, 27 water catchments (encompassing 31 internationally important water bodies and protected sites) are in unfavourable status due to nutrient pollution. A total of 74 Local Planning Authorities can only approve development projects if they will not cause additional pollution to these legally protected sites.

The nutrient neutrality plan also seeks to impose a new legal duty on water companies in England to upgrade wastewater treatment works by 2030 in affected areas to the highest achievable technological levels.