‘Act of lunacy’: scrapping water pollution laws to boost housebuilding will be ‘nail in coffin’ for UK rivers

The government is set to change water pollution rules to allow more houses to be built in what has been called “absolutely absurd” and an “act of lunacy” by environment campaigners.

The housing secretary, Michael Gove, is planning to scrap nutrient neutrality laws which are in place to ensure that building developments or projects do not harm local wetlands and waterways in protected areas, the Guardian reports. The laws mean that builders have to prove they will not cause polluting phosphates and nitrates to seep into nearby water.

Developers have claimed that this legislation, put in place in 2017 when the UK was still a member of the EU, has prevented thousands of homes from being built.

Mark Barrow, underwater filmmaker from Beneath British Waters who films and campaigns against the extent of sewage in UK rivers, said scrapping these laws is an “act of ecocide” and “another nail in the coffin for rivers.”

He told NationalWorld: “There are not many more nails left before the lid is closed permanently. Freshwater species are already in decline despite freshwater holding some of richest biodiversity there is, and this act of lunacy will ensure that decline carries on.”

Barrow added that developers say it has prevented new houses being built because it “affects their profits” and “that’s what it comes down to.”

He said: “While ever we put money first and nature second we will ultimately lose and mark my words the loss of our freshwater aquatic world will come back to bite us in years to come.”

Gove, alongside Thérèse Coffey, the environment secretary, is expected to announce the move on Tuesday (29 August) as well as hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of extra funding to mitigate the potential impact on England’s waterways.

They will give around £400m in grants to farmers and water companies to improve slurry infrastructure to make leaks less likely, and spend around another £300m to help builders mitigate the impact of their schemes. But this has still not pleased environment campaigners, as Barrow says UK rivers “are already facing massive pressure and threats with excessive nutrients”.

He said that the government has “systematically lied” as it “quite frankly does not and has never cared for our freshwater environment.” Barrow added: “When our rivers become lifeless, ask if it was worth it.”

The regulations were brought in by the EU to prevent damaging build-ups of algae and other plants which can kill aquatic life. Builders have to mitigate new nutrient loads caused by new populations in housing either onsite or elsewhere within the same catchment by investing in new wetlands or creating buffer zones along rivers and other watercourses.

However they have complained that this is costly and time-consuming with developers saying they have had to put as many as 120,000 new homes on hold.

In response to their complaints, ministers launched a mitigation scheme last year where builders were allowed to buy “credits” to gain approval for their schemes. But developers said that buying these credits has occasionally led to unintended consequences such as buying up farmland to take it out of use in an attempt to reduce water run-off.

Natural England has issued advice to builders and developers for 31 habitats sites, spanning 27 catchments and a total of 74 local planning authorities.

On its website, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs said nutrient pollution is “an urgent problem” for freshwater habitats and rivers and “we must tackle this pollution to help meet our legal commitments to restore species abundance.”

Charles Watson, River Action’s Founder and Chair, said nutrient neutrality laws “provide a glimmer of hope for some of our most protected rivers” and it is “absolutely absurd for the government to roll back on this.”

Watson added: “Our rivers are dying in front of us and the public are up in arms about the destruction being caused on a daily basis. If the government continues on the path of destruction of our rivers, they will pay for it at the ballet box next year.”

According to the Guardian, those who are briefed on the proposed plans say the government will try to change the law through an amendment to the levelling up and regeneration bill, which is currently in the House of Lords.

Ministers will need to secure enough support for the bill, which must pass by the autumn or it will have to be reintroduced in a new bill in the King’s Speech in November.

Gove said the government is “committed to building the homes this country needs and to enhancing our environment”, adding that “the way EU rules have been applied has held us back.”

He said: “These changes will provide a multi-billion pound boost for the UK economy and see us build more than 100,000 new homes. Protecting the environment is paramount which is why the measures we’re announcing today will allow us to go further to protect and restore our precious waterways whilst still building the much-needed homes this country needs.

“We will work closely with environmental agencies and councils as we deliver these changes.”