Michael Gove has sparked outrage after announcing plans to scrap water pollution rules as part of efforts to ease the housing crisis.
The housing secretary, alongside Thérèse Coffey, the environment secretary, will announce a major rewriting of “nutrient neutrality” rules today, in a desperate bid to boost housebuilding in England.
Set by Natural England, the rules prevent developments from increasing nutrient levels to dangerous levels in local wetlands or waterways in protected areas.
Introduced in 2017 while the UK was still a member of the European Union, Gove is expected to declare the rule changes a “Brexit bonus”.
Under proposals, the rules are set to become guidance, giving local leaders a choice to adhere to or ignore it when it when signing off new housing projects.
The move will come as a relief to major developers who argue the rules as they stand have resulted in as many as 120,000 new homes being put on hold.
‘Raw sewage’
However, the announcement has sparked fury among environmental campaigners who argue the latest move will only exacerbate current water pollution in light of the continued dumping of raw sewage into rivers and seas.
Recently, a court heard how water firms discharged raw sewage more than 300,000 times, over 1.75 million hours last year, with 75% of UK rivers posing a ‘serious risk’ to human health.
And that’s not all.
The environmental performance of the UK’s water and sewage companies fell to the lowest level on record in 2021, according to the Environment Agency, with the nation ranked as one of the worst countries in Europe for water quality.
Doug Parr, policy director at Greenpeace UK, told the Guardian: “Who would look at our sickly, sewage-infested rivers and conclude that what they need is weaker pollution rules? No one, and that should include our government.
“Scrapping or weakening limits on chemicals from sewage and farm run-offs would be a sure sign that ministers have completely given up on saving our great waterways and the precious wildlife they host.”
Reaction on social media was quick to filter through, with a number of commentators decrying the move as proof environmental standards have fallen under the current government.
Here’s a pick of what people had to say:
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