CIEEM encourages members to respond to EDP consultation

The consultation on the first draft Environmental Delivery Plan (EDP) closes at 9:29am on Tuesday 27 October. CIEEM is urging all members to respond.

We have published a briefing to help members prepare their responses. It sets out our position and the changes we are asking Government to make.

EDPs are a new approach in England, introduced by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. Developers pay a levy in place of meeting certain habitat and species protections, and the money funds conservation measures intended to outweigh the impacts. This first draft covers nutrient pollution from up to 15,780 homes in Norfolk, affecting the Norfolk Broads SAC, River Wensum SAC and Broadland Ramsar site. It will be the template for future EDPs, so it matters that it works.

CIEEM welcomes the move towards more strategic, landscape-scale nature recovery. As drafted, however, we do not think this EDP will deliver it. Our key concerns are:

• None of the proposed measures prevent nutrient pollution at source, and over 80% of the new nitrogen would go unmitigated.
• Irreplaceable habitats such as lowland fen, and rare species such as the Fen Orchid, are not properly assessed.
• A levy of £2,675 per home sits well below the price of private nutrient credits, which risks undermining the nature markets Government is relying on.

CIEEM members work on the front line of development and will be relied upon to deliver the measures in this EDP. That makes your expertise and experience especially valuable to policy-makers.

We also intend to publish our full response to the consultation ahead of the deadline so that members can use this to inform their own responses.

The consultation closes at 9:29am on Tuesday 27 October.

The consultation can be found at: https://consultations.defra.gov.uk/consultation-on-a-new-environmental-delivery-plan