House of Lords backs protection of chalk streams, such as the Gaywood River, in planning bill

Proposals to protect “rare but abused” chalk streams have been backed by the House of Lords.

In May, MPs were slammed for rejecting amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill which would have helped to keep the habitats safe from the pollution, over abstraction and dredging brought on by new building projects.

With only 200 of these streams in the world - one of them being in Gaywood - campaign groups raised questions about the Government prioritising construction over environmental obligations.

But after the legislation was discussed by the Lords on Tuesday, the amendment received masses of support.

Former North West Norfolk MP Lord Henry Bellingham was one of the many in the house who backed the decision, saying it was “incredibly important”.

“What motivated me are the chalk streams in Norfolk, which in recent years have come under quite a lot of threat from abstraction,” he told the Lynn News.

“Extreme climatic events mean there are more storm overflows from out-of-date sewage treatment plants.”

He explained that the streams have a “rare” and “almost unique” set of habitats, which are “very vulnerable”.

The amended bill will now head back to the House of Commons, where it could either be accepted or rejected once again.

“Hopefully they will accept it, and for the first time there will be actual statutory protection for chalk streams,” Lord Bellingham added.

Some argue the pressure for new housing is what sparked the Government’s want to accelerate building projects, with plans to use the money made to improve nature elsewhere.

However, the Gaywood River Revival campaign group, which has been fighting for chalk stream protection for years, likened it to “handing developers a golden ticket to carve up the countryside at will”.

Lord Bellingham said: “If we don’t take sufficient consideration of environmental matters, then we’re going to be doing a lot of damage in the next few years.

“Hopefully, the Government will accept it. It would be a very silly thing to do to turn it down because it was won by quite a distance.”