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Since 2018, all new residential developments need to demonstrate nutrient neutrality to obtain planning approval. As residential developments produce increased phosphate levels through surface water run-off and foul water treatment, a mitigation strategy is required to comply with planning policy. Due to the speed these measures were introduced it created a significant obstacle for many developments.
Abbey Manor Group is a private property company in Southern England, with a £200m development portfolio from Cornwall to Essex.
Few of Abbey Manor Group’s developments could produce nutrient neutrality within the actual site, so they needed to find an alternative solution: off-site projects that were able to provide credits to mitigate the increased phosphorus their developments produced.
EnTrade worked with landholders to generate a portfolio of projects, woodlands, wetlands, arable reversion, and cover crops, capable of delivering nutrient mitigation.
The nutrient reduction from the projects was quantified by EnTrade to generate phosphorus credits (P-credits) developers could buy by bidding in the Somerset Catchment Market then use to meet their nutrient neutrality obligations.
Abbey Manor Group registered with EnTrade and was able to secure the necessary
P-credits through EnTrade’s simple and easy bidding process. Abbey Manor Group was successful and EnTrade took care of all the legal agreements including securing the projects with Somerset Council via Section 106 agreements.
As EnTrade is a nutrient credit scheme recognised by the local planning authority, once they had made their payments Abbey Manor Group received the allocation certificate and planning permission was granted, which allowed construction work to start on site.
Abbey Manor Group was successful in both Market Round 1 and 2 of the Somerset Catchment Market. This enabled them to secure planning permission and start construction on one site as well as assisting to try and unlock a larger 100 housing scheme in Yeovil.
