There has been a requirement for the mitigation of Nitrogen Loading from new residential development within the Poole Harbour Catchment since 2017, writes KPPC Senior Associate Town Planning Consultant Adam Bennett.
Dorset Council have, since the production of the Nitrogen Reduction in Poole Harbour Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), alongside what was then Poole Borough Council (now BCP Council) and Natural England, allowed for mitigation to be delivered through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and not required developers to make specific contributions for this.
We have, yesterday evening (25th July) had notification from Dorset Council that they will no longer be collecting Nitrogen Mitigation Contributions within the Poole Harbour Catchment by way of CIL for new residential development.
The council will now be requiring that developers either demonstrate that sufficient nitrogen mitigation to render the development ‘Nutrient Neutral’ can be delivered on site, or that off-site mitigation has been appropriately secured.
Such off-site mitigation could take the form of a specific project on other land controlled by the developer, but is likely to take the form of the purchase of Nutrient Credits from a third party.
Dorset Council aspire to have nutrient projects available that they can provide Nutrient Credits from, however at present this is not the case. The reliance is therefore upon the market or other third party sellers to deliver this.
There is a mitigation project which will shortly become available, from 31st July, through Natural England at Lyscombe Farm, 10 miles north east of Dorchester.
It is anticipated that for many smaller sites, this will be the only option to address this mitigation requirement.
Given that this also affects development within parts of Poole, we have approached BCP Council for comment on how this affects development within their plan area and whether they will be seeking to take a similar approach.
BCP Council says that they are maintaining the status quo for parts of Poole within the Poole Harbour Catchment at present, so live applications will remain unaffected. The council will, however, be reviewing the position later in the year, so this is not a fixed position.
For more information on this or to discuss how this may affect your development project, please do get in contact with us. Call 01202 538800 or email info@kppcltd.co.uk.
