New measures to reduce water pollution announced
The Government has outlined new plans to reduce water pollution including:
- New legal duties on water companies to upgrade wastewater treatment works by 2030 in ‘nutrient neutrality’ areas
- A new Nutrient Mitigation Scheme to be developed and delivered by Natural England
Interaction with existing and planned mitigation schemes
The new Nutrient Mitigation Scheme will be designed to complement existing activities, such as the Somerset Catchment Market.
The Government has stated that:
- “The Nutrient Mitigation Scheme will create new wetlands and woodlands in partnership with green groups and other privately led nutrient mitigation schemes.”
- “Natural England will work with, not crowd out, new and existing private providers and markets for nutrient offsets wherever they exist.”
What does this mean for the Somerset Catchment Market?
The Somerset Catchment Market is already developing a pipeline of new wetlands and woodlands to provide nutrient mitigation to meet current demand from housing development
The Government has made it clear that the new Natural England Scheme will work in partnership with initiatives such as the Somerset Catchment Market, and will be designed to complement rather than crowd out these schemes.
The current high demand for nutrient mitigation makes the Somerset Catchment Market an attractive opportunity for farmers and other landowners to secure competitive price for their nature-based projects over the next few years.
The amount of nutrient mitigation developers are required to deliver will reduce from 2024.