Phosphate credits Lugg catchment
Latest update 14 March 2024
The council has paved the way with the development of the nutrient budget calculator and is now progressing a pioneering natural solution to nutrient management. Integrated wetlands will address point source pollution and provide mitigation through the trading of phosphate credits, which will unlock housing development in the north of the county and provide river betterment.
This page provides an update on where your application is placed in the waiting list for credits, guidance on updating your planning application and on using the nutrient budget calculator to calculate the nutrient budget of the proposal.
Further phosphate credits released
Following approval of Phase 2 of the council's Phosphate Mitigation Strategy by Cabinet on 29 February 2024, a further 77kg of phosphate credits from our second wetland at Tarrington, are now available for purchase.
If you are on the identified list as eligible for credits, please review the published guidance and prepare updated documents as required. Officers will shortly be in contact with each individual applicant to advise on securing the purchase of credits.
Important information about allocation of phosphate credits
Phosphate credits will be allocated in validation date order.
- To see where you are in the waiting list for credits (for applications validated before 31 October 2021), view our current Applications validation date order queue
- Please note: A further validation list for applications validated from 1 November 2021 onward will be published shortly
- View Herefordshire Council's Phosphate credit bank list
All applications will require review and an information update.
- For guidance on the information we require view River Lugg catchment update June 2022 Advice for agents and applicants - applications review
- Complete the applications review checklist and send with your required documents
- For non-mains foul drainage, see:
Allocation of credits will be managed by the planning team. Planning case officers will work through the applications on the waiting list in date order. When an application is ready to be determined, the case officer will invite you to apply for credits.
- For more about the credit allocation process view Phosphate credits: allocation process information for developers
- A Phosphate S106 agreement will need to be signed when purchasing credits
Advice on using Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) to reduce phosphorus in surface water
- Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) can form a key part of appropriately addressing phosphate in surface water within development sites. CIRIA have released a piece of good practice guidance titled ‘Using SuDS to reduce phosphorus in surface water runoff’ (2022), which sets out how various SuDS treatment options may be able to be used to address urban runoff of phosphate and how these treatment options may function together.
Download Advice note on Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) to reduce phosphorus in surface water from Ciria
Relation to the credits scheme
- The SuDS guidance has not yet been translated into evidenced based data to allow reductions in surface water phosphate budgets to be made during budget calculations. However, as more data becomes available it may potentially reduce the number of credits you may require, as it has an effect on the phosphate runoff coefficient.
- If developers wish to discuss the potential use of SuDS to mitigate surface water phosphate then they should make a request through the council's pre-application advice service.
Phosphate credits FAQs
Queries about the credit allocation process - Email us with your query at phosphates@herefordshire.gov.uk.
We can't reply individually but will post regular updates to questions asked on the Phosphate credits FAQs.