Nutrient Neutrality Alignment

Copy-Ready Wording

Use this paragraph in planning, ecological or drainage documentation where post-occupation behaviour and garden management relate indirectly to nutrient generation or runoff quality.

The Self-Sustaining Garden programme is not a Nutrient Neutrality mitigation measure and does not reduce or offset nutrient loads for assessment purposes. It provides residents with practical guidance that encourages low-impact garden management, helping to reduce avoidable nutrient inputs and behaviours that can marginally affect runoff quality. While not part of the nutrient budget or mitigation package, the programme can support wider efforts to promote good practice and reduce minor post-occupation risks.

What Nutrient Neutrality Requires

Nutrient Neutrality (NN) addresses nitrogen and phosphorus inputs arising from development, typically requiring:

Quantification of nutrient loads using recognised calculators
Mitigation that reduces or offsets nutrient export at the catchment scale
Legally secured solutions that deliver quantifiable reductions
Long-term monitoring, management and assurance

Only habitat-based or catchment-scale mitigation measures can be counted toward Nutrient Neutrality.

What the Programme Does Not Do

The Self-Sustaining Garden programme:

Does not form part of a nutrient mitigation package
Does not reduce nutrient export for assessment purposes
Does not replace legally secured mitigation or catchment measures
Must not be included in nutrient calculations or budgets

How the Programme Supports Projects

Although not part of the Nutrient Neutrality assessment, the programme can support good practice by reducing small, avoidable post-occupation behaviours that may affect nutrient release or surface-water quality within private gardens.

It helps residents:

Limit unnecessary fertiliser, pesticide or herbicide use
Maintain healthy, permeable soils that reduce nutrient-rich runoff
Retain vegetation cover that slows, filters and absorbs rainfall
Avoid soil disturbance that can increase mobilisation of nutrients
Adopt water-sensitive, low-input garden practices

These behaviours do not replace mitigation but can help reduce avoidable risks and support responsible garden management across a development.

Where It Can Be Referenced

The programme may be referenced in supporting narrative where post-occupation behaviour or good practice in garden management is relevant, such as:

Ecological or Landscape Management Plans
SuDS or surface-water maintenance commentary
Design & Access Statements (long-term management sections)
General planning documentation discussing resident behaviour or stewardship