nutrient neutrality: tackling challenges and embracing

Creating a world

fit for the future

© Ricardo plc 2017

Nutrient Neutrality: Tackling

challenges and embracing

environmental opportunities

13 May 2021

2July 2017Unclassified - Public Domain© Ricardo plc 2017

• Expertise: analysis and solutions for major environmental challenges

• Team: part of wider environmental and policy group

• Our focus: water, ecology, associated policy and environmental impacts

Ricardo Energy and EnvironmentIntroduction


Today’s speakers

Simon KennedyStrategic Environmental

Planning Officer,

Partnership for South

Hampshire

Dr Jenny MantTechnical Director, Water

Management, Ricardo

David HaywardPlanning Policy Manager,

Havant Borough Council

Claire PitcherPrincipal Consultant, HRA

Technical Specialist, Ricardo

Dr Gabriel Connor-StreichSenior Consultant, Water

Management, Ricardo


The issues

• Planning permission not granted unless

development impact assessed as legally

compliant

• Impact on housing development

• Complex issue: new and novel ways to

understand NN (development and environment)

• Evidence-based impact calculations

• Mitigation - in perpetuity (N and P)

Why this webinar?

Ricardo’s support (examples)

• Herefordshire council: Managing P – calculator

development (bespoke)

• Natural England – evidence-based calculator

• Havant Council – HRA and mitigation opportunity

! Webinar audience/stakeholders

Water companies, Building Federation,

Regulators, Local Authorities, Planners,

Trusts, Government


Questions/Issues/Challenges – thank you for your responses

• Innovation and evidence base: case studies

• Long-term nature based solutions and demonstrating longer-term Net Gain benefits

• Offsetting: land change and availability

• Roles

- Water companies when not the main contributor

- Land owners and managers

• Obligations beyond agriculture

• Compliance, legislation and HRA assessment

• Planning and LA challenges (including master planning)

• Permitted solutions

• Contribution and funding

• P as the limiting nutrient

Will discuss within the presentation – please ask at Q&A sessions


What and who does nutrient neutrality impact?

PlanningPlanners

Developers

Farmers

HRAPlanners

Developers

Farmers

Ecologists

Mitigation solutionsWater companies

Environmental NGOs

Planners

Developers

Farmers

Catchment managers


• The issue and implications- Background and HRA – Claire Pitcher

• Challenges and opportunities-What is being done – Dr Gabriel Connor Streich

Audience Q&A

• What others are doing already – planning in practice -Thoughts from guest speakers Simon Kennedy and David Hayward

Audience Q&A after each speaker

• Next steps?-Contact us after the event – always happy to help

Agenda summary

Webinar poles and feedback

survey

Close 2.30pm


The issue and implications


• Ecosystems subject to N and/or P loading - eutrophication.

• Key sources: agricultural run-off and sewage effluent.

• Historically tackled with Urban Waste Water Treatment

Directive, Nitrates Directive, Water Framework Directive.

• Failure of WFD Good Ecological Status.

• Implications for overlapping designated sites.

The issueNutrient Neutrality – Issues and Implications

CSOs with frequent spills*Agricultural land use in River Wye catchment

* MAPPED: 700 sewage outfalls under investigation for frequent spills, ENDs April 2021


• Favourable Conservation Status

(legal ecological concept

retained in domestic law).

• Not being met due to

eutrophication.

• Different water quality targets to

WFD GES.

• Strategic nutrient management

plans, stripping technologies at

wastewater treatment works.

• Shift in focus following Dutch

Nitrogen case (2018).

European designated sitesNutrient Neutrality – Issues and Implications


• November 2018.

• Fertiliser application to

agricultural land and

airborne issues of nitrogen

deposition on raised bogs.

• Wider HRA implications.

Dutch Nitrogen caseNutrient Neutrality – Issues and Implications


Habitats Regulations Assessment: What, where, when?Nutrient Neutrality – Issues and Implications

Strategic plans

• Local Plan

• Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans

Local projects

• Planning applications (housing, leisure, agricultural developments)

Other activities

• Licence and permit renewals (discharges, aquaculture)

• Applicable to any activity identified as having a Likely Significant Effect to a European or Ramsar site.

• Approach using two stages of HRA process:

– Stage 1 Screening – Likely Significant Effect – is there a risk/should we assess further?

– Stage 2 Appropriate Assessment – adverse effect on site integrity, apply mitigation.


• No adverse effect on site integrity:

– Unfavourable condition – how do we demonstrate whether a

plan/project will affect this?

– Is mitigation needed?

• Natural England guidance – site specific, generic being

produced.

• Nutrient budgets and concept of ‘nutrient neutrality’.

• Next challenge – effective and timely mitigation.

HRA compliance: Existing guidance and toolsNutrient Neutrality – Issues and Implications


Challenges and opportunities


Development of nutrient budget methodologiesNutrient Neutrality: Challenges and Opportunities

Original methodologies

• Simple approaches for River Avon and Poole Harbour

Detailed methodologies

• More detailed methodology by Natural England for Solent and Stodmarsh

Generic methodology

• Ricardo and Natural England developed generic nutrient budget methodology


When and how onsite mitigation can work?Nutrient Neutrality: Challenges and Opportunities

Viability of onsite mitigation depends on:

1. Mitigation for nitrogen (N) or phosphorous (P)

2. Land use pre- and post-development

3. WwTW permit limit on N and/or P

4. Size of your development site

Illustrated with nutrient budgets for

hypothetical housing development.

Development details

Number of dwellings 300

Site area 6 ha

Output P (kg TP/year) N (kg TN/year)

Net nutrients from

land use change+13.4 -34.9

Nutrient budget 50.2 231

Output P (kg TP/year) N (kg TN/year)

Net nutrients from

land use change0 0

Nutrient budget 34.1 273

To

a)

To

b)


Choosing offsite mitigation solutionsNutrient Neutrality: Challenges and Opportunities

• Opportunities for working with other

stakeholders.

• Opportunities for net gain.

• Solution must be HRA compliant!


• Mitigation solutions secured through financial contributions.

• Our previous work suggests that different options for administering developer contributions have different

likelihoods of success.

• Advantages and disadvantages to developer administered schemes and trading platforms.

• Most secure approach is strategic schemes involving LPAs and NGOs / third parties such as water

companies.

Securing mitigation solutionsNutrient Neutrality: Challenges and Opportunities

Mitigation fund banks Trading platformsDeveloper administered

schemes Strategic schemes


Planning in practice

SEPO to Ricardo Webinar – 13/05/2021

Responding to Nutrient

Neutrality in the Solent

Region

Strategic Environmental Planning Officer• Response must be coordinated due

to cross administrative boundary implications

• A single point of contact for stakeholders

• Options for Local Authority interventions to allow sustainable development to take place

21 5/19/2021 Add a footer


Strategic Environmental

Planning Officer (SEPO)

Basingstoke and Deane Chichester

East Hampshire

Fareham

Havant

New Forest National Park

Southampton

Test Valley Winchester

South Downs National Park

Portsmouth

New Forest

Gosport

Eastleigh

Protected Sites • Solent Maritime SAC, Solent and Southampton Water SPA and Ramsar,

Portsmouth Harbour SPA and Ramsar, Chichester and Langstone Harbours SPA and Ramsar), or any water body (surface or groundwater) that subsequently discharges into such a site

• Mitigation is required at the point that total nitrogen from development reaches the protected site

• Mitigation is available when the reduction of nitrogen is realised at the protected site

• Relationship between Waste Water Treatment Works and protected sites has considerable implications

• Catchment solutions most appropriate.


Protected Sites


Understanding Supply and Demand on a Catchment Wide Basis


Understanding the Impact on Minor Development and SMEs

• A 4 dwelling conversion from a non-residential use will have a total nitrogen mitigation cost per dwelling over 40% higher than a 100 dwelling conversion from non-residential use

• Planning Implications• Meeting national and local planning objectives

• Impact on brownfield and regeneration development

• Reduced ability to ensure the right houses are built in the right places (housing supply)

• Wider Implications• Jobs

• Local economy

• Skills


Legal Framework to Support Sustainable Development

• Overarching S.106 agreements with mitigation providers, this system is endorsed by representatives of the development industry and is to the satisfaction of both LPAs and current mitigation providers. This approach may be conditional if covenant strength is concerns need to be overcome

• Aims to standardise the process and produce conformity in approach between LPAs

• Where Local Authorities directly control credits the only legal framework required is to collect the funds


Delivering Solutions• Potential short to medium term solutions for each catchment currently being

considered by Local Authorities. Solutions seek to satisfy the major themes from stakeholder engagement

• For strategic solutions trusted bodies such as the county record centres may be used to manage and monitor supply and demand. This process is also important for Local Plan HRAs in the context of short to medium term solutions

• Delivery of sustainable housing, in addition to those sites that can show neutrality on site, is starting to be possible in some areas already. This is through the use of overarching S.106/S38 agreements and through direct intervention by some Local Authorities


Medium to Long Term• Current land use change approach can be shown to be sustainable over plan

periods

• DEFRA trading platform

• On Site - SuDS and Bio-retention

• Improvements at WWTWs

• Engineering solutions


Simon [email protected]

Nutrient neutrality in practice

13 May 2021

David Hayward

(Havant Borough Council Planning Policy Manager)

Nutrient neutrality in Havant▪ The entire Borough is affected

▪ From early April 2019, we were only able to lawfully permit nutrient neutral development

▪ Had recently undergone pre-submission consultation on a new Local Plan

▪ Pro-development local authority

Nutrient neutrality in Havant▪ Impact on SME builders

▪ Impact on small and medium sized businesses in the Borough

▪ Impact on our ability to provide the right homes in the right places

▪ Impact on brownfield development and regeneration

▪ If mitigation is needed, how much will this cost? What will we ‘lose’ to enable this to be included?

▪ Impact on Council resources

What to do?

Already part of a

strategic

mitigation

scheme

Extensive

experience of

implementing the

Habitats

Regulations

Our own estate The drive to get it

done

Emsworth

Havant Town Centre

Portsmouth & Southampton

Chichester

▪ Solent LEP Growth Deal grant

▪ Extensive support from Natural England

▪ Detailed analysis and research on the efficacy of the proposal

Launching the mitigation scheme▪ Launched on 18 August 2020, visited

by Rebecca Pow MP and Tony Juniper, Chair of Natural England

▪ Still look for on-site mitigation wherever possible

▪ Involves the phased conversion from intensive agricultural use to a nature reserve

▪ Scheme funded through developer contributions and Solent LEP grant

How has it been received?▪ Has since been extensively used by

developers

▪ Have gone from 409 housing units significantly affected by nutrients to zero

▪ Featured in ‘inpractice’ in December 2020

▪ Shortlisted for Planning Awards 2021

How does it work?▪ A Position Statement details the approach in full

▪ Applicants need to submit a checklist with a planning application setting out the approach towards the Habitats Regulations

▪ A nutrient budget is needed

▪ This is then taken forward through a project level HRA, in consultation with Natural England

▪ The mitigation is secured through legal agreement

▪ Process notes and a video guide take applicants through step by step

Lessons learnt▪ Nutrient neutrality is a multi-faceted issue

▪ Comes down to the question “can you lawfully grant planning permission?”

▪ Solutions are needed – this is not going away in the short to medium term

▪ Solutions are possible – but need careful thought

▪ Can be win-wins – the best solutions will invariably lead to multiple social, environmental and economic gains

▪ Consideration has to be given to how a scheme will be implemented

▪ Ultimately, very positive outcomes are possible


Audience Q&A


HRA

• Required on strategic/local plans and projects to demonstrate no nutrient

loading likely significant effect to designated sites

Developing calculations (Nutrient budgets)

• Needed to inform mitigation scale and on/offsite appropriateness

• Supports funding route

Planning

• Regional planning leads to better buy in to mitigation both supply and demand

• Planning early may limit impacts on SME builders, council and societal

needs/identify wider benefit mitigation opportunities

Mitigation in practice

• Mitigation needs careful planning and monitoring to assess wider benefits and

determine NN success access

• If unsure seek advice from experts

Nutrient Neutrality: Challenges and Opportunities

Key takeaways


We can:

• Develop a nutrient neutrality planning and calculating budgets

• Assess mitigation options and benefits

• Identify level of impact that planned developments may have on local and regional ecology

• Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) and advice on implementation of process

• Impacts on agriculture related to P

Much more – just ask

Helping you achieve nutrient neutrality

Methodology development – Nutrient neutrality planning – Evidence-based impact calculations –

HRA and mitigation opportunity assessment – Policy planning – Managing P/calculator development

– Mitigation options assessments – Technical support with scope and plan development –

Strategic/Local/Generic planning – Advice on agriculture related to nitrogen (N) or phosphorous (P) –

Budget calculation – Ecological impacts assessment – Strategy development – Eutrophication risk

assessment – Identification of nature-based solutions and more…


Find out about our services

Ricardo Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) services

Ricardo business planning services brochure

Ricardo terrestriel ecology services

https://ee.ricardo.com/downloads/environment/environmental-impact-assessment-capability-stateme

https://ee.ricardo.com/downloads/water/innovation-for-pr19-business-planning

https://ee.ricardo.com/downloads/environment/ecology-capability-statement


Visit our website to find out about how we can help

https://ee.ricardo.com/water

https://ee.ricardo.com/environment


Thank you for joining us

Simon KennedyStrategic Environmental

Planning Officer,

Partnership for South

Hampshire

Dr Jenny MantTechnical Director, Water

Management, Ricardo

David HaywardPlanning Policy Manager,

Havant Borough Council

Claire PitcherPrincipal Consultant, HRA

Technical Specialist, Ricardo

For queries regarding the webinar or if you would like to follow up with any speakers, please contact

[email protected]

Dr Gabriel Connor-StreichSenior Consultant, Water

Management, Ricardo

mailto:[email protected]

nutrient neutrality: tackling challenges and embracing

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