Wild Justice drops plan to challenge Defra over nutrient neutrality

Nature activist Wild Justice has dropped plans to bring a judicial review to challenge the Government over what it argued was an attempt to relax rules blocking development in sensitive water catchments.

Law firm Leigh Day, acting for Wild Justice, sent a Pre Action Protocol letter to environment secretary Steve Barclay, following the publication on 25 January 2024 of a notice designating sensitive catchment areas. The notice required water companies to upgrade sewage infrastructure to remove nitrogen and phosphorus from discharges in these catchments by 1 April 2030. It told planning authorities considering proposals for developments that they should assume that those pollution control measures will be in place by the deadline.

Wild Justice argued that there was no guarantee that the measures will be in place, and that the notice had the same effect as some of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act amendments that were defeated in the Lords and would have enabled development in sensitive catchments to go ahead.

However, on Friday, Wild Justice said having received a response from Defra, “we have decided there is no prospect of winning this challenge”. It continued: “What Defra is doing is shockingly bad and if we were still in the EU we would be considering challenging this policy. As it is, we can’t see a legal route forward. However there is work to be done by us and others to ensure that the promised upgrades are produced and that the relevant regulators do their jobs properly.”