PRESS RELEASE: BIODIVERSITY EXPERTS BIOFARM RESPOND TO THE GOVERNMENT WEAKENING ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS

EXPERTS FROM BIOFARM HAVE EXPRESSED THEIR CONCERN REGARDING REPORTS ON THE RELAXATION OF NUTRIENT NEUTRALITY RULES THAT AIM TO BREAK BRITAIN’S HOUSEBUILDING BACKLOG

The Government has announced it will be weakening environmental standards by removing requirements for housing in protected areas to be nutrient neutral in order to meet housebuilding targets. The revised solution, investing more into Natural England’s Nutrient Mitigation Scheme, will see the financial responsibility for offsetting damage to ecosystems moved from the developer to the taxpayer.

Nutrient neutrality legislation was initially established to prevent developments contributing to already excessive levels of nutrients, primarily phosphorus and nitrogen, in UK water systems. Such nutrients promote plant growth and, in unnaturally high concentrations, generate algal blooms, which when combined with other factors can create uninhabitable conditions for wildlife, known as ‘dead zones’.

Nutrient neutrality encourages developers to be more conscientious and tactical, considering potential environmental impacts and climate resilience at the early site-selection stage. It also removes the pressure put on farmers to make bigger and faster cuts to nutrient pollution.

The inability of the Government to meet its own housebuilding targets may partially be blamed on a lack of access to expert advisors. Biofarm, which was founded in response to the Environment Act 2021, brings together a wealth of expertise from the property sector, as well as leading ecologists in wetland creation, habitat management and natural policy.

As such, Biofarm is well positioned to provide advice to help Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) and developers to meet environmental targets; and is currently working with multiple LPAs, developers and landowners on Biodiversity Net Gain projects to unlock development quickly and efficiently, whilst safeguarding Britain’s ecology for future generations.

Evie Hymas, Ecologist at Biofarm said:

“Dissolving nutrient neutrality laws and centralising the process will mostly serve to reposition nature as an after-thought, creating complications further down the line, with ever-developing legislation and uncertainty in the newly emerging markets of natural capital.

Rollback of nutrient neutrality laws could be a glimpse into the future for other up-coming environmental protections including the Environment Act, threatening future generations’ access to a healthy and sustainable ecosystem.”