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Nutrient Neutrality

Home Planning Planning for nature recovery Nutrient Neutrality

What is the Nutrient Neutrality Credit Scheme?

A Nutrient Neutrality Credit Scheme for Cumbria is currently in development.

The scheme will enable developers and landowners to purchase credits that offset the nutrient impacts of new developments, helping to protect our rivers, lakes, and wider environment while unlocking development for sustainable growth.

We are working with partners to finalise the details, including:

How credits will be generated
How they can be purchased
Costs and payment processes

Once launched, the credit scheme will provide a straightforward route for developers of all sizes to meet planning requirements under nutrient neutrality rules.

Next steps:

Further information will be published here as soon as it is available.
Guidance and updates will also be shared through the Cumbria Nutrient Neutrality Newsletter.
If you have an immediate query, please get in touch.

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Cumbria Nutrient Neutrality

Cumbria Nutrient Neutrality is a partnership of Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness Councils and the Lake District National Park Authority. Visit the Cumbria Nutrient Neutrality website for more information.

Visit the Nutrient Neutrality website

Credit Scheme FAQs

A ‘Credit’ will be defined as 1kg Phosphorus/year.

Credits will be able to be sold in increments of 0.01kg. This is to ensure that applicants can apply for the exact amount of mitigation they require, as the Nutrient Neutrality calculators calculate to two decimal places.

To be eligible to apply for credits, development must:

Be within affected nutrient catchments or subcatchments where credits are available, and;
Be linked to an active planning application. This is to ensure that credits are not bought speculatively and not used.
It is recommended to ensure you’re application is up to date and the latest versions of the calculator have been used.

We will be taking a 15% deposit for the purchase. This will be non refundable and credits bought must be used within 3 months.

If you receive confirmed credits you will then be asked to pay the remaining outstanding value of the credits.

If Nutrient Neutrality is the only thing holding back your application you are invited to pay the full amount to reduce the administrative time taken, speeding up your application.

The process of buying Credits

One would be open for applications for 4 weeks and will be processed in a single batch when the application window closes. Any excess credits would be available for purchase in a later round.

1.

Apply for credits using the online form and pay for deposit

2.

Notification of provisionally allocated credits or added to ‘waiting list’

3.

Confirmation of allocated credits

4.

Credit Purchase and Pay remaining value

5.

Credit Certificate Issued

Sale of Round 1 Credits

Credits will only be available to homes which connect to a WwTW with a current permit level below 8mg/l. These are listed below. Excess credits will be made available for all other housing developments – i.e. those which connect to a WwTW with a permit level of 8mg/l or higher, and those which connect to a PTP/septic tank.

River Eden catchment

Appleby – WFC
Brampton (Carlisle) – CC
Brampton (Eden) – CC
Calthwaite – WFC
Carlisle – CC
Dalston – CC
Greystoke – WFC
Kirkby Stephen – WFC
Motherby – WFC
Penrith – WFC
Shap – WFC
Southwaite – WFC

River Derwent and Bassenthwaite Lake catchment

Cockermouth – LDNPA
Keswick – LDNPA

Esthwaite Ramsar catchment

Hawkshead – LDNPA

Applying for Nutrient Neutrality Credits

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Tell us about your site

Planning Application Reference(Required)

Application Validation date(Required)

Site Name(Required)

Site Address(Required)

Street Address Address Line 2 City ZIP Code

Site What 3 Words(Required)

NN Catchment(Required)

Local Planning Authority(Required)

Connected WwTW(Required)

Number of dwellings(Required)

Number of affordable houses(Required)

Is NN the only thing holding up your application?(Required)

Yes

No

Choose your payment option

If Credits were avaliable?

When would you like to purchase your credits(Required)

How many weeks after that would the first home be occupied(Required)

Which Calculator did you use(Required)

Current TP/kg/year determined by the calculator(Required)

Post 2030 TP/kg/year determined by the calculator(Required)

Please upload your NN assessment(Required)

Max. file size: 64 MB.

Please upload your Nutrient Calculator(Required)

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Number of credits requested(Required)

What percentage of you mitigation is from these credits(Required)

What other mitigations options are you pursuing?(Required)

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