The Ministers of the UK Parliament have voted in favour of scrapping the EU-era water pollution restrictions to make land available for housing development. The changes will be made through an amendment known as the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
The Ministers argued that the occurrence of water pollution in the protected waterways as a result of new homes is quite small, which can be counterbalanced by the approved £280 billion housing investment.
In line with the parliament’s approval, the British government announced that by 2030, up to 100,000 new houses could be built once the rules protecting the waterways have been loosened.
However, and as expected, environmental groups are against the government’s housing development plans. The group described as disgraceful the move to scrap the EU-imposed water pollution restriction. Craig Bennett, the CEO of Wildlife Trust says lifting the restriction will bring on more human faeces in the river.
On the other hand, the Exec. Chairman of the Home Builders Federation – Stewart Baseley, disclosed that housebuilding actions have been blocked. This despite wide acknowledgement that occupants of new homes are responsible for maintaining that only a small fraction of the wastewater will make its way to the streams and rivers.
Moreover, observance of the Natural England rules, which denote that 62 local officials are to allow new developments only if the builders can show proof that in protected areas, their projects are “nutrient neutral.” The term nutrient neutral means that there is certainty that the development project will not result in additional nutrient burdents in catchments or water collection systems.