Agenda item

A presentation outlining potential planning impacts as a result of an issue of water quality raised by Natural England.

A presentation was given by the Chief Planning Officer which detailed the water quality problems being caused within the Stodmarsh Wetland Nature Reserve.  The Stodmarsh water environment is internationally important for its wildlife and is protected under the Water Environment Regulations and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations, as well as national protection for many parts of the floodplain catchment.

The Chief Planning Officer said, evidence had been found which indicated there were high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus input to this water environment with evidence that these nutrients were causing eutrophication at part of these designated sites. This process made it difficult for aquatic insects, invertebrates, or fish to survive, in turn removing a food source from the food cycle. Natural England had advised the Council that it should avoid the potential for any further deterioration in the water quality of the Stodmarsh European designated site pending further investigations as to the cause of the eutrophication. That had direct consequences for some new development proposals within parts of Folkestone & Hythe District.

The Chief Planning Officer said, the advice from Natural England covered all areas within the Stour Operational Catchments, to include the Little Stour and Wingham, Lower Stour and Upper Stour sub-catchment areas. Specifically, within the Folkestone and Hythe District, affected parishes included Stelling, Elmstead, Elham, Lyminge, Stowting, Monks Horton, Sellindge, Lympne, Standford, Postling, Acrise, and Swingfield.

The Chief Planning Officer said possible solutions included on-site waste water works; Land off-setting i.e. taking agricultural land out of active use to reduce the nutrients that wash off the land; Water polishing – reed beds; upgrading the existing Waste Water Treatment Works and management of the Stodmarsh SPA.

The Chief Planning Officer said because of its protected national and international status, the council is under a legal obligation to ensure it does not allow any development within the Stodmarsh SPA which would make the current situation worse. This places the Council under an obligation to assess whether planning applications would lead to a 'likely significant effect'. This could lead to a Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) being carried out which would in turn generally include an Appropriate Assessment (AA). Natural England must be consulted on the findings of an HRA and there was a duty for the Council to consider their response. When moving to the appropriate assessment stage, an established principle in case law was that AAs must use the 'precautionary principle'. An appropriate assessment must enable the local planning authority to apply the regulation 63(5) "integrity test" on a "precautionary basis".

The Chief Planning Officer said therefore, for developments within the scope of the NE Advice, the council would need to carry out an HRA to establish the nature and scale of potential impact on the designated sites at Stodmarsh. That would include the need for an AA, which developers would be requested to draft and submit for approval as appropriate, considering the views of Natural England.

The Chief Planning Officer concluded by saying that this was a complex area of planning, and as he currently understood the position, the only way that a new housing scheme (or other affected type of development proposal) could prevent this likely, significant effect is for its submitted AA to demonstrate there to be no increase in nutrients into the Stour River catchment area, i.e., for it to be 'nutrient neutral'.

In response to a question from Councillor Thomas, the Chief Planning Officer said these regulations applied to European protected SPA sites, and Stodmarsh was the only one of these in the Folkestone and Hythe District area.

In answer to a question from Councillor Mullard, the Chief Planning Officer said

whilst government was urging more development, sites such as Stodmarsh remained protected. The development at Otterpool would have its own waste water treatment works, with other sites which may be affected having appropriate mitigation measures put in place.

In answer to a question from Councillor Joyce, the Chief Planning Officer said the pumping concerns he had described, were most likely matters for Southern Water. Whereas the restrictions described by the Chief Planning Officer only related to new development.

In answer to a question from Councillor Mrs Hollingsbee, the Chief Planning Officer said the development at Rhodes House, Sellindge was not affected by these restrictions at the time the planning application was approved but he would be looking at possible mitigation measures when dealing with the reserved matters.       

Prior to the closure of the meeting the Committee requested Officers to bring forward a report to the next meeting on the Community Infrastructure Levy and Section 106 Agreements.