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Home Planning, buildings and land Phosphates – guidance, template documents and useful information

Phosphates – guidance, template documents and useful information

Templates and guidance to assist applicants with preparing Nutrient Neutrality And Mitigation Statements

Notification

information

Somerset Council consulted on the proposed local validation checklist. The consultation is now closed but you can read about the consultation here.

Templates and guidance

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The following guidance documents have been created by Somerset Council to assist applicants in the preparation of planning applications subject to phosphate neutrality. And to assist in the consideration of possible phosphate mitigation solutions.

The templates and guidance should help applicants with preparing Nutrient Neutrality And Mitigation Statements, shadow Habitat Regulations Assessments as well as providing additional guidance on nutrient neutrality opportunities:

How to secure phosphate mitigation

Planning applications which require phosphate mitigation must secure this via a condition and/or a Section 106 legal agreement. The below table provides further information regarding this. There may be some situations in which the method of securing mitigation could be different from that set out below – if you have any queries please contact the Phosphate team: phosphates@somerset.gov.uk.

Types of Phosphate Mitigation

Septic Tank/PTP upgrades (Serving 1 dwelling)

  • On-site: Condition (Compliance)
  • Off-site: Section 106 Agreement

Septic Tank/PTP upgrades (Serving multiple dwellings)

  • On-site: Section 106 Agreement
  • Off-site: Section 106 Agreement

Orchard Planting/Woodland Planting

  • On-site: Condition (Compliance)
    • Small-scale on-site orchard/woodland planting where it relates to a single dwelling, and the Officer is satisfied that the site is such that the proposed orchard/woodland would not become separated from the proposed/existing dwelling.
  • On-site: Section 106 Agreement
    • Required for proposed developments for multiple dwellings
  • Off-site: Section 106 Agreement

Wetland Creation

  • On-site: Section 106 Agreement
  • Off-site: Section 106 Agreement

Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)

Section 106 Agreement​

  • Required for monitoring and maintenance of the Sustainable Drainage Systems in perpetuity (80-120 years).​

Please note: In some cases, Sustainable Drainage Systems design is secured via condition (e.g. for flood risk). However, design details of Sustainable Drainage Systems being used as phosphate mitigation must be reviewed, confirmed and secured prior to the determination of the application. An exception to this is for Outline applications, for which design details for Sustainable Drainage Systems with a phosphate reduction rate of 50% or lower can be secured via condition to be provided at Reserved Matters stage. Please see the SuDS NNAMS Guidance for applicants for further details.

Third-party Phosphate Credits (P-Credits) – with an overarching legal agreement with Somerset Council

Pre-commencement Condition

  • Submission of a Reservation Notice prior to grant of planning permission (via either delegated authority of following a positive resolution at committee). The Reservation Notice demonstrates the developer has paid a deposit to secure sufficient Phosphate Credits. Somerset Council then imposes a planning condition on the permission, requiring submission of an Allocation Certificate prior to commencement of development.

Somerset Council Phosphate Credits (P-Credits)

Section 106 Agreement

Multiple mitigation types

Each mitigation type is secured as above

  • Multiple mitigations which require a Section 106 Agreement can be captured into one single Section 106 Agreement. Mitigation which can be secured via planning condition in accordance with the above, should be. It is not necessary to also include within the Section 106 Agreement.

Useful information

Stakeholder engagement:

Somerset Council Planning Service – Update to Agents (October 2024)

Last updated: August 22, 2025

Next review due: February 22, 2026

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