There will be no change to environmental rules preventing building in much of Herefordshire until well into next year, despite a commitment by the new Labour government to prioritise fixing these.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) intends changing “nutrient neutrality” rules that oblige local authorities to ensure via the planning system that new developments do not bring a net increase in pollutants entering protected river systems.

“We will implement solutions to unlock the building of homes affected by nutrient neutrality without weakening environmental protections,” an MHCLG spokesperson confirmed.

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These rules have had a serious and prolonged impact on the construction sector on much of Herefordshire which falls within the protected river Lugg catchment.

Herefordshire Council’s cabinet member for environment Coun Elissa Swinglehurst said the council had been advised by the government to “continue to progress the strategic mitigation schemes for which funding has been received, as whilst habitats regulations is high on their agenda, there are no plans to remove the requirement for nutrient neutrality”.

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Herefordshire has pioneered a scheme to enable developers to buy “phosphate credits” which fund new wetlands by waste water treatment plants, offsetting any pollution from new developments.

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Meanwhile a series of plans to guide action on the river “are due to come forward in spring 2025 and will collectively provide a clearer picture of water quality across the catchment with the actions needed to quantify river restoration”, Coun Swinglehurst added.

“At present this is the only accepted mechanism for the nutrient neutrality requirement to be withdrawn.”

Herefordshire Construction Industry Lobby Group said earlier this month that the so-called moratorium on building “has cost the county more than £500 million already and has prevented affordable housing, listed building restoration and devastated the local economy”.