Norfolk pig farmer compensation deal unlocked new homes

The decision to compensate farmer James Daniels in return for no longer permitting the farming of pigs on his land near Caistor St Edmund raised eyebrows last autumn.

But, almost a year on and council bosses said they stood by the unusual deal  - the first of its kind in the country.

The deal means pigs are no longer reared at the farmland near Caistor St Edmund (Image: Denise Bradley)

They said it had helped unlock housing stalled because of an environmental directive which prevented councils giving the green light to new housing schemes in parts of Norfolk.

Mr Daniels was paid by Norfolk Environmental Credits (NEC) - a collaboration between Breckland Council, Broadland District Council, North Norfolk Council and South Norfolk Council - to not have pigs on land off Markshall Farm Road.

The council-owned, not-for-profit company, agreed the deal because the pigs on the farmland, either side of the A47 bypass to the south of Norwich, were creating harmful nutrients that were running into the Tas and Yare rivers.

By closing it down, that enabled the sale of credits to developers who needed to provide mitigation for their housing schemes.

Council officers said that led to credit sales at more than 100 sites where housing was proposed, which meant councils could grant permission for 1,375 homes.

Phil Courtier (Image: Simon Finlay Photography)

Phil Courtier, director of place at Broadland and South Norfolk councils, who is a board member on NEC, said: "I stand by that scheme. We saw it as a quick win, but we did not want to replicate that elsewhere.

"We have still got a new homes block, but it has meant we have been able to release a number of new homes.

"And we have targeted the small and medium sized developers, because they were the ones who were really struggling."

As reported, the next phase of the nutrient neutrality mitigation bid is the offer of free replacement septic tanks to thousands of people in the county.

That will enable more credits to be sold to developers, allowing decisions to be made on more homes.

But it has sparked questions over whether developers will increase their asking prices for new homes to cover the additional costs.

NEC is also exploring the use of new technology for wastewater treatment works to better contain the release of nutrients from them.

What is nutrient neutrality?

A 2022 directive from government advisors Natural England meant councils were stopped from granting planning permission for housing within catchment areas of the River Wensum and the Broads.

That was because of concerns nutrients created by development could go into waterways and harm species.

Nutrient pollution can cause algal blooms on waterways

Councils were told developments had to prove they would not lead to an increase in phosphate or nutrient run-off.

Or if they would, then measures would be needed to ensure the impact was offset - achieving so-called 'nutrient neutrality' - which is why NEC was set up to sell mitigation credits to developers.