A WINCHESTER housing company director has welcomed the government’s plans to shift the responsibility of offsetting water pollution away from housebuilders.

The current ‘nutrient neutrality’ rules force developers to mitigate the nitrates and phosphates caused by additional housing from leaking into local wetlands and waterways in protected areas.

This has significantly increased the difficulty of getting planning permissions approved, particularly for smaller developers like Millgate in Winchester who build on brownfield sites rather than farmland.

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Housing secretary Michael Gove’s proposal would instead see Natural England offset the nutrients from new housing by creating wetlands or upgrading existing housing.

The plan has received backlash from conservation groups who believe this change could further harm rivers like the Test and Itchen and overwhelm waste water treatment works.

By contrast, Millgate director Rob Carter believes it is a positive step that shows housebuilders are not to blame for pollution and the state of the environment.

Mr Carter said: “It’s taken six years to get this solution, which makes Covid look like a blip. It is a good proposal that recognises that the fault and the damaging pollution is coming from farmland and waste water treatment works.

“Water from houses goes through treatment works and we pay for that connection with Southern Water. Most of the problem is from farms, they need to fertilise their fields and that waste runs down into rivers, which don’t go through treatment works. It’s very blinkered to say housebuilders cause the pollution.

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“The solution must be holistic and address many issues which are detailed and complicated. It revolves around water companies upgrading (which we all agree on) and avoiding using chemicals to treat our water and instead using natural methods.

“People use the argument of demand all the time but the treatment works should be designed to take it. For a functioning society to work, we need everyone to play a part in the infrastructure.

“Small developers like us need a regular supply of small planning permissions. The current regulations gave us no certainty as we didn’t know how we would mitigate the nitrates.

“Going forward we’re basically getting back to where we were. The nutrient neutrality rule really was the straw that broke the camel’s back for many small developers.”

The plans include new environmental measures, with the government aiming to tackle pollution at the source and restore habitats by doubling its investment to Natural England.