Dame Caroline Dinenage, Member of Parliament for Gosport, has welcomed that defective EU laws have been reformed to unblock redevelopment of brownfield sites, and housing, between now and 2030, delivering an estimated £18 billion boost to the economy.
Currently, legacy EU laws on nutrient neutrality are blocking the delivery of regenerative housing programmes by causing delays, increasing the cost and sometimes forcing cancellation altogether. In Gosport, this has been the reason that several regenerative projects have been delayed or blocked, including High Street redevelopments.
Nutrients entering our waters are a real problem, but the contribution made by new homes is very small. These laws which originate from Brussels put a block on new homes in certain areas - taking away control over what is built, and when, from local people.
Through an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, the Government will do away with this red tape and allow for the delivery of more than 100,000 new homes desperately needed by communities.
Caroline has been working hard to rectify the issues caused by this red tape, having seen the detrimental impact it has had in the Gosport constituency, preventing good redevelopments to transform and rejuvenate dilapidated sites.
The announcement comes after meetings with government officials over many years to highlight the impact that these regulations have on Gosport’s economy.
The move comes alongside new environmental measures that will tackle pollution at source and restore habitats. This includes significantly expanding investment in and evolving the Nutrient Mitigation Scheme run by Natural England, doubling investment to £280m to ensure it is sufficient to offset the very small amount of additional nutrient discharge attributable to up to 100,000 homes between now and 2030 nationwide. Natural England will work with local authorities, the private sector and others to tackle nutrient pollution and work towards the long term health and resilience of the river systems. The Government intends to work with the house building industry to ensure that larger developers make an appropriate and fair contribution to this scheme over the coming years, and is discussing the right structure and approach with the Home Builders Federation.
Welcoming the news, Caroline said:
“I’m very pleased that the government have overturned these old EU regulations. Preventing redevelopment of old, unused and eyesore sites is harmful to Gosport’s economy, and the regulations did very little to protect the environment.
“I am glad that, coupled with other environmental measures to protect against nitrate pollution, the government has been able to unleash our economic potential by unblocking these redevelopment programmes which will help us to protect our heritage, rejuvenate brownfield sites and benefit our economy.
“This has come after a lot of hard work lobbying successive ministers and meetings in Number 10.”
Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove MP said:
"We are committed to building the homes this country needs and to enhancing our environment. The way EU rules have been applied has held us back. 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.”
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Thérèse Coffey said:
“These new plans will cut nutrients and help support England’s precious habitats whilst unlocking the new homes that local communities need.
“We are going to tackle the key causes of nutrients at source with over £200 million of funding to reduce run off from agriculture and plans to upgrade waste water treatment works through conventional upgrades, catchment approaches and nature-based solutions. This builds on the key commitments made in our five-year strategy – our Environmental Improvement Plan – as well as our Plan for Water which brings forward more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement to protect our rivers.”