Weekly planning news

Planning Act provisions come into force, enabling fee surcharges and nature recovery plans

A series of provisions within the Planning and Infrastructure Act came into force on 18 February, including the commencement of the ‘Environmental Delivery Plans’ process.

These provisions empower Natural England to prepare “environmental delivery plans” (EDPs) for defined geographic areas. Natural England can prepare these plans to set out strategic actions to address the impacts of development on protected sites or species. Developers operating within areas covered by an EDP will be able to contribute to a new Nature Restoration Fund. The fund will be used by Natural England to deliver large-scale environmental

Another significant provision of the act grants the housing secretary the power to introduce a surcharge on planning application fees. The surcharge is intended to reflect costs incurred by statutory consultees when providing advice during the planning process. Under the Act, the secretary of state will be able to set the surcharge as a percentage of an existing fee or charge and vary the level depending on the type of application, case or circumstances.

Northumberland quarry approved again after climate ruling challenge

Northumberland County Council has granted planning permission for a 29-hectare quarry for a second time, after agreeing to quash its original approval following a climate-related legal challenge, according to Planning.¹

The scheme involves the extraction of 2.8 million tonnes of dolerite from agricultural land in Northumberland. The mineral is used in concrete production and as construction aggregate.

The council first approved the development in November 2024. However, a local campaigner challenged the decision, arguing that the authority had failed to properly assess the likely climate impacts of the proposal, particularly carbon emissions resulting from soil disturbance.

The objection relied on the 2024 landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in the R (Finch) v Surrey County Council case, which established that decision-makers must consider certain indirect climate effects of developments when determining planning applications.

Following the initiation of legal proceedings, the council accepted legal advice that the original permission should be quashed on the basis that it had not adequately assessed the likely significant climate effects, including emissions linked to soil carbon loss.

A revised application was subsequently submitted, including a new climate change chapter and updated ecological information. According to the council’s planning report, the updated climate assessment included a dedicated analysis of carbon emissions arising from soil stripping, storage and restoration. This work established a baseline soil carbon stock and modelled predicted carbon losses.

The applicant also committed to measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including a pledge to operate a fully electric site powered by clean electricity by 2035.

An updated soils and agricultural land impact assessment concluded that embedded mitigation measures would limit impacts on soil carbon to “minor adverse” levels that would not be significant in environmental impact assessment terms.

Planning officers stated that extracting minerals close to where they are needed is a “fundamentally sustainable principle” and that there are no realistic alternatives to meet aggregate demand for construction.

Lawyer alleges illegal sewage discharges into east London river

A barrister has called on the government to take action over alleged illegal sewage pollution in an east London river, claiming that vast quantities of waste are being discharged without proper oversight, according to The Planner.²

He barrister has urged the health secretary to intervene over what he describes as unlawful pollution of the Cran Brook, a tributary of the River Roding that flows through Streeting’s Ilford North constituency.

According to his findings, one sewage outfall into the Cran Brook is releasing around 50,000 litres of liquid per day, with ammonia concentrations comparable to raw sewer levels. He estimates that approximately three-quarters of a billion litres of polluted liquid enter the brook annually from that source alone.

While combined sewer overflows (CSOs) can legally release sewage into watercourses during periods of heavy rainfall to prevent system overload, Powlesland argues that misconnections and infrastructure failures are responsible for a number of unpermitted discharges.

He told The Planner that many sewage outlets on the Roding – and potentially rivers across England – are neither authorised CSOs nor properly recorded.

Powlesland said one previously unidentified discharge he discovered by walking the river has since been fixed, but warned that the wider scale of the problem remains unknown. He criticised plans to spend billions addressing sewage pollution without first establishing a comprehensive understanding of the number and location of illegal outfalls.

1. https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1948808/northumberland-quarry-granted-planning-consent-second-time-climate-legal-challenge
2. https://www.theplanner.co.uk/2026/02/11/illegal-sewage-dumps-london-river-says-lawyer