Farmers left ‘hugely out of pocket’ after housing green scheme axed
Emma Gatten
Sat, 2 September 2023
Housebuilders and the Government say the rules were blocking more than 100,000 new homes being built in particularly sensitive areas - Alamy Stock Photo /Brian Lawrence
Farmers could be left out of pocket after investing in green schemes now in doubt after the Government scrapped requirements for housebuilders to pay for their river pollution.
Michael Gove this week announced that housebuilders would no longer be required to offset the impact on rivers of extra nutrients from new homes.
Under the scheme, housebuilders had been expected to buy credits from landowners who were undertaking projects to reduce the amount of phosphate and other nutrients in rivers.
These pollutants enter the water largely as the result of agricultural runoff and sewage, and can harm fish and other wildlife.
They are a major contributor to just 14 per cent England’s rivers being in a good ecological state.
Housebuilders and the Government say the rules were blocking more than 100,000 new homes being built in particularly sensitive areas.
But analysis by environmental groups involved in setting up these schemes found that there are enough projects in the pipeline to allow more than 70,000 homes to be built.
They now fear that many of these will not go ahead, which could leave some farmers out of pocket on their investments so far.
The Government has promised an extra £140 million funding to Natural England as an alternative, but there are still questions over where the money will come from and whether it will be sufficient.
Gabriel Connor-Streich, the chief executive of Greenshank Environmental, which develops river improvement projects for housebuilders to invest in, said some farmers would be “hugely out of pocket” if the schemes were killed off.
These include some whose land was now tied up in 125-year legal agreements based on business models that could now be redundant.
‘I have lost all faith in the Government’
Paul Coles, an arable farmer in Somerset, said he would lose a significant amount of money if he was forced to abandon plans for a scheme on his land to divert water before it reaches the river.
The scheme was planned to be completed by next spring and would have effectively offset enough pollution for around 1,300 homes in the area.
Paying farmers and landowners to improve the natural world was one of the cornerstones of the Government’s post-Brexit approach to reforming agricultural subsidies, which green groups say has now been undermined.
“I’ve lost all faith in the Government to be honest,” said Mr Coles. “It just seems to me that they don’t want English food and they don’t want farmers.”
Steve Godfrey, the managing director of Green Agri Land, which has been helping landowners to reduce their pollution, said the change would damage a burgeoning industry.
“We are now at a point where large-scale solutions are coming forward to unlock housing while protecting our rivers and wildlife sites,” he said. “The recent Government announcement has put these schemes at risk.
“If the amendments are made then there will no longer be the demand for credits and therefore they will be unviable to deliver.”
‘More pollution will pour into our rivers’
Green groups have mounted fierce opposition to the Government’s plans, arguing that it undermined one of the few working schemes to tackle river pollution.
They also argue it undermines the Government’s principle of making polluters pay, and of building a private market for investment in nature and low-carbon industries.
“The upshot will be that more pollution will pour into rivers, but the stream of corporate cash to mitigate the impacts will dry up,” Dr Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link said. “The clear lesson of previous environmental planning policies that have relied on guidance – from biodiversity net gain to sustainable drainage – is that they rarely work.
“The Government has been forced to regulate to drive change and to avoid a chaotic patchwork across the country.
“In this case, the Government’s deregulatory agenda is going in the opposite direction and is bound to be worse for nature.”
A government spokesman said: “While mitigation schemes are operating in some areas, there is no guarantee that demand can be met imminently to unlock the homes that local communities need.
“The Government’s intention in providing significant extra funding to Natural England – and securing contributions from developers – is that such schemes continue without holding up the building of much-needed housing.”
Emma Gatten
Sat, 2 September 2023
Housebuilders and the Government say the rules were blocking more than 100,000 new homes being built in particularly sensitive areas - Alamy Stock Photo /Brian Lawrence
Farmers could be left out of pocket after investing in green schemes now in doubt after the Government scrapped requirements for housebuilders to pay for their river pollution.
Michael Gove this week announced that housebuilders would no longer be required to offset the impact on rivers of extra nutrients from new homes.
Under the scheme, housebuilders had been expected to buy credits from landowners who were undertaking projects to reduce the amount of phosphate and other nutrients in rivers.
These pollutants enter the water largely as the result of agricultural runoff and sewage, and can harm fish and other wildlife.
They are a major contributor to just 14 per cent England’s rivers being in a good ecological state.
Housebuilders and the Government say the rules were blocking more than 100,000 new homes being built in particularly sensitive areas.
But analysis by environmental groups involved in setting up these schemes found that there are enough projects in the pipeline to allow more than 70,000 homes to be built.
They now fear that many of these will not go ahead, which could leave some farmers out of pocket on their investments so far.
The Government has promised an extra £140 million funding to Natural England as an alternative, but there are still questions over where the money will come from and whether it will be sufficient.
Gabriel Connor-Streich, the chief executive of Greenshank Environmental, which develops river improvement projects for housebuilders to invest in, said some farmers would be “hugely out of pocket” if the schemes were killed off.
These include some whose land was now tied up in 125-year legal agreements based on business models that could now be redundant.
‘I have lost all faith in the Government’
Paul Coles, an arable farmer in Somerset, said he would lose a significant amount of money if he was forced to abandon plans for a scheme on his land to divert water before it reaches the river.
The scheme was planned to be completed by next spring and would have effectively offset enough pollution for around 1,300 homes in the area.
Paying farmers and landowners to improve the natural world was one of the cornerstones of the Government’s post-Brexit approach to reforming agricultural subsidies, which green groups say has now been undermined.
“I’ve lost all faith in the Government to be honest,” said Mr Coles. “It just seems to me that they don’t want English food and they don’t want farmers.”
Steve Godfrey, the managing director of Green Agri Land, which has been helping landowners to reduce their pollution, said the change would damage a burgeoning industry.
“We are now at a point where large-scale solutions are coming forward to unlock housing while protecting our rivers and wildlife sites,” he said. “The recent Government announcement has put these schemes at risk.
“If the amendments are made then there will no longer be the demand for credits and therefore they will be unviable to deliver.”
‘More pollution will pour into our rivers’
Green groups have mounted fierce opposition to the Government’s plans, arguing that it undermined one of the few working schemes to tackle river pollution.
They also argue it undermines the Government’s principle of making polluters pay, and of building a private market for investment in nature and low-carbon industries.
“The upshot will be that more pollution will pour into rivers, but the stream of corporate cash to mitigate the impacts will dry up,” Dr Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link said. “The clear lesson of previous environmental planning policies that have relied on guidance – from biodiversity net gain to sustainable drainage – is that they rarely work.
“The Government has been forced to regulate to drive change and to avoid a chaotic patchwork across the country.
“In this case, the Government’s deregulatory agenda is going in the opposite direction and is bound to be worse for nature.”
A government spokesman said: “While mitigation schemes are operating in some areas, there is no guarantee that demand can be met imminently to unlock the homes that local communities need.
“The Government’s intention in providing significant extra funding to Natural England – and securing contributions from developers – is that such schemes continue without holding up the building of much-needed housing.”
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