First Environmental Delivery Plan published for consultation
Natural England has published the first draft Environmental Delivery Plan (EDP) under the Nature Restoration Fund, covering nutrient pollution in Norfolk. The draft plan focuses on the Broads SAC (Yare and Bure), Broadland Ramsar and River Wensum SAC catchments. It proposes that developers pay a levy to fund conservation measures at scale, rather than site-by-site mitigation. The government says this could support up to 15,780 new homes.
The government is presenting this new approach as an innovative win-win for development and nature. CIEEM is not necessarily convinced and will be digging deeper into the detail. As the first of its kind, this EDP will set the precedent for those that follow, and Natural England is already developing plans for other areas affected by nutrient pollution and for Great Crested Newts.
CIEEM will be scrutinising the draft plan closely, including the evidence base, the proposed conservation measures and whether the approach will deliver for nature.
The consultation is open for 28 working days and closes on the morning of 27 October 2026. CIEEM will be submitting a response and encourages members to do the same. Responses can be submitted via the Defra consultation hub.
To support members, CIEEM will be:
- producing a briefing on the draft EDP to help members prepare their responses, and
- hosting an online workshop to gather members’ comments to inform CIEEM’s response.
If you would like to attend the workshop, please get in touch with the Policy Team ([email protected]).
More information is available on the consultation page and the Environmental Delivery Plans collection.