Cornwall’s River Camel catchment has unique rules regarding permissible sources of mitigation for planned developments. As the River Camel catchment is made up of a number of tributaries, such as the River Camel and the River Allen, a mitigation located on the River Camel cannot be used against a development on the River Allen.

The Cornwall Council nutrient neutrality calculator is used to determine the phosphate credits required to mitigate a development. The calculator can be used for either developments which will be connected to mains drainage or operate with a septic tank / PTP.

The calculator has selections of sub-catchments for the location of the development. If you are unsure of the sub-catchment, contact the LPA planning department to confirm the sub-catchment for the development. This will also impact the number of temporary and permanent credits the development requires.

As a rule, Natural England and the Local Planning Authority require the source of the nutrient mitigation is upstream of the point of pollution impact. If the development is connected to a Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW), the point of impact will be the WwTW. If a septic tank / PTP is used, the development will be the point of impact.

The rules also vary if the sub-catchment has the river classified as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

Mitigations created in the following sub-catchments can be used in the shown sub-catchments.

If your development is in the same sub-catchment as the mitigation, you must also consult with your LPA planning officer to confirm the credits can be used. 

We have mitigation sites which work for all sub-catchments

The good news is Nutrient Neutrality Solutions has access to mitigation sites at the source of the tributaries of the River Camel. This means we can bring these mitigations into existence to meet development needs.

Terms & Conditions and Policies