Recommendation 77

The Government has acknowledged this imbalance in addressing nutrient pollution. Trudy Harrison MP, Minister for Natural Environment and Land Use told us “I absolutely sympathise and agree that it feels incredibly unfair to housebuilders.” 107 Box 4: The Netherlands’s nitrogen strategy The Netherlands has 160 Natura 2000 sites and, like all member states, is required by EU law to maintain and restore these areas and avoid activities that could results in their deterioration. The Netherlands has the second highest nitrogen balance (surplus) in Europe and has the highest density of livestock in Europe. 108 In 2019, the Council of State (the highest administrative court) ruled that a nitrogen permitting approach in the Netherlands was contrary to environmental law. 109 This made it difficult for new nitrogen-emitting projects, including housing development, to get permits to build and caused delays to thousands of projects. The 2021 coalition Government set out a nitrogen strategy which includes measures for industry, agriculture, transport and the construction sector to reduce nitrogen deposition and improve the quality of nature areas. 110 The intention is to reduce nitrogen emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and the plan has an associated budget of €24.3 billion. A key part of this is a planned government buy out of some 3,000 highly polluting farms located close to Natura 2000 areas that could be shut down. The government plans to pay them 120 per cent of the value of their businesses to stop producing. 111 Farmers across the Netherlands have been protesting over concerns that the plan may require a one-third reduction in the country’s livestock herd and may result in the forced purchase of farms to close them down. 112 This issue led to the Farmer-citizen movement (BBB) being set up which, in the March 2023 provincial elections, became the largest party in the Dutch Senate.