Waste not, water knot….

The proposed amendment on Nutrient Neutrality to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, currently going through its final committee stages, would mean that the impact on sensitive sites from urban waste water, that goes through a waste water treatment plant, would no longer be a constraint to granting planning consent or developing a site. 

While this will not please everyone, it would untangle the crippling approach LPAs were forced to take - which has devastated housing supply in the effected catchment areas - and firmly place responsibility on the water companies to invest effectively in managing waste water.  It will have a more challenging impact on agricultural development, which will not be given the same largess.

September 2023