Nitrates Worries

Portsmouth News June 12th 2020 reported on problems for builders and Councils when seeking mitigation measures for nitrates pollution. The following is HBRA's Press Release currently on this subject :

Havant Borough Residents Alliance(HBRA) are very concerned about the decision Havant Borough Council (HBC) have made on 3rd June regarding Warblington Farm, two thirds of which is owned by them.

The whole process has been cloaked in confidentiality. Our members have been excluded from meetings and had no access to the committee papers or the recent Cabinet Meeting on neutrient neutrality 3rd June.

All over the Borough high grade agricultural land is being lost at a time when local food produce is becoming even more important.

A bird reserve sounds like a nice local facility. However, there is no evidence that this land in Warblington would provide sufficient mitigation for the important feeding sites which would be lost in other parts of the Havant Borough, such as for curlew on Campdown.

Warblington is a dairy farm which provides a daily home delivery in glass bottles as well as milk to a local farm shop on Hayling Island.

There seems to be no consideration of the benefits of Warblington Farm, in local authority ownership, which could be leased to a young farmer wanting to make a start in the industry. Very few young farmers are in position to purchase land, there has been a national campaign on local authorities to retain these farms in the agricultural industry.

HBRA are also concerned that Havant Borough Council have made this decision before even drawing up and publishing a Nutrient Neutrality lmplementation Plan.

For over a decade there have been serious problems with water quality due to nutrient pollution in our local harbours. Havant Borough Council has done very little to put pressure on Southern Water, who own the waste water treatment works at Budds Farm, to remedy this.

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