The proposal was to construct 65 new dwellings and a GP surgery on agricultural land.
The site is within the catchment of the Somerset Levels & Moors Ramsar site where the health of watercourses is impacted negatively by excessive phosphate loadings. Therefore, the local planning authority required the applicant to demonstrate that the phosphate output from the site would not increase post development, and that the development would be phosphate neutral.
Our team carried out a Phosphate Assessment using the Somerset Phosphate Budget Calculator, which determined the additional phosphate loading for the site. We proposed mitigation measures to offset the increase in phosphate loading.