Media stories: A legal requirement that new houses do not pollute nearby wetlands, rivers and nature reserves has halted development across a swath of England, the Guardian has reported. The news piece stated that ‘forty-two local authorities in England were last month told they must ensure that new homes are “nutrient neutral” and do not add damaging nitrates […]
From Defra The Water Services Division at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published a research report which concludes that the overall picture generated by the research is that it is “both rare and challenging” to achieve a strategic approach to surface water management through the planning system. Introducing the research report, DEFRA said […]
From waterbriefing Five regional water resource groups have published their Emerging Regional Water Resource Plans, setting out how they propose to address a predicted water deficit for England of 3,435 million litres per day (Ml/d) megalitres by 2050. The estimate is set out in the national framework for water resources paper Understanding England’s future water needs […]
Executive summary Effective planning is essential for getting the right kind of sustainable growth in the right places. This includes avoiding development in flood risk areas and creating and maintaining places that are resilient to flooding. This report describes how flood risk information is used in strategic spatial plans and decision making, and the barriers […]