On 30 October the Government announced that a further £8.85 million of funding has been made available to get the housing market moving in Norfolk, while still protecting the environment.
The money will be used to unlock homes that are currently on hold due to the high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen that are present in some of Norfolk’s rivers.
Councillor Sue Holland, Leader of Broadland District Council and Chair of the Nutrient Mitigation Fund commented: “We have already made great progress across Norfolk in a relatively short time and this additional funding will enable a wider range of projects to be supported.
“Reducing the level of nutrients in our rivers will enable much needed homes to be delivered and help reduce the housing pressure, grow the Norfolk economy, and ensure that an essential part of our environment will continue to be protected.“
Norfolk has been pioneering new approaches to addressing nutrient neutrality and launched the Nutrient Mitigation Fund (Norfolk) in May to provide funding to deliver new environmental schemes in the affected river catchments.
The schemes that have already been funded have helped to reduce nutrient levels and allowed more than 800 new homes to get planning permission.
However, applications for funding have exceeding the money that was initially available. This extra £8.85m will enable more projects to be supported, speeding up efforts to address the levels of phosphorus and nitrogen that are present in some of our rivers.
More environmental solutions are still required, particularly around land use change, creating wetlands and also temporary mitigation to 2030. Please get in touch through the website or by email to info@nmfnorfolk.co.uk if you have a suitable project you are considering as this additional funding now means more solutions can be supported.
