Government plans to scrap nutrient neutrality rules to unlock new housing in Somerset have been criticised by green experts.

Thousands of new homes in Somerset have been prevented from being delivered following the Dutch N court ruling and the resulting legal advice issued by Natural England.

The ruling, in a nutshell, requires developers to secure additional mitigation to prevent any net increase in phosphates within the catchments of internationally protected Ramsar sites – including the Somerset Levels and Moors.

Housing secretary Michael Gove MP and environment secretary Thérèse Coffey MP jointly announced plans on Tuesday (August 29) to scrap current rules on phosphate mitigation for new housing, providing hundreds of millions of pounds to address the environmental impact.

But campaigners have warned that the move will lead to "seven years" of further degradation, and that mitigation funding will be "insufficient" to cope with the pace of housing delivery.

Under the current rules, builders must off-set the impact of new homes by setting aside land for phosphate mitigation, either within the development or off-set in the form of new wetlands or similar projects.

Around 1,300 new homes in Somerset could soon be unlocked in the River Brue catchment (which includes Bruton, Glastonbury and Highbridge) by fallowing agricultural land near Shepton Mallet.

A similar scheme, involving a pig farm near the village of Wraxall, will enable the delivery of 280 homes on the B3151 Somerton Road in Street (which were approved by councillors in January) and a further 90 homes on Lowerside Lane in Glastonbury (which were approved by the Planning Inspectorate in May).

Somerset was also one of the first places to launch a 'phosphates credit' system, whereby builders could purchase credits which would pay for off-site mitigation which would offset new homes in a particular location.

Mr Gove told the Sunday Telegraph that scrapping these rules would be part of the "Brexit bonus", arguing that the previous regulations which were in place before the UK left the EU "got the balance wrong".

The government has been criticised for its lack of response to water companies, who have dumped large quantities of raw sewage into rivers and onto England's beaches.

To ease the consciences of Conservative MPs in rural areas, Mr Gove has promised around £300m for schemes to mitigate the impact of development schemes, and around £400m for farmers and water companies to improve slurry infrastructure, making leaks less likely.

The legislation would need to be introduced as an amendment to the long-awaited Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which is currently making its way through the House of Lords.

The move have attracted tentative support from the Labour Party, which favours the reform of planning laws to drive house-building, but has been opposed by both the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party.

However, the bill (with the necessary amendments) would need to pass by October – otherwise it will have to be reintroduced as a new bill in the King's Speech in November.

Mr Gove's announcement comes just a month after leading experts wrote to prime minister Rishi Sunak, urging him not to retreat on net neutrality.

Kim Connor-Streich, chief commercial officer at Greenshank Environmental (one of the original signatories), said his company would put forward "an acceptable workaround" which would allow homes to be delivered without completing neglecting environmental issues.

He said: "The proposed changes remove any requirement for house-builders to look at the environmental consequences of their nutrient pollution. The money proposed for other restoration works is insufficient.

"Based on the current costs of deploying mitigation, we would need ten times that amount between now and 2030.

"This is an attempt to shift the responsibility away from DLUHC and house-builders and into the remit of the Defra, the EA and water companies. Water companies are clearly very unpopular at the moment, so it seems heaping this on as well makes sense.

"One of the biggest issues is that even if they enforce the rules and increase the investment, we will have seven years of detrimental impact on the environment."

Somerset Council has been attempting to reduce the backlog of major planning applications held up by the phosphates issue, with a particular emphasis on the former South Somerset area.

A spokesman said: "We will be studying these proposals with interest, but we really require further clarity from the government because the current legal framework has not changed.

"We will also need to look at government proposals for mitigating the environmental impact of new homes on our SSSI sites before commenting in detail.

"We need confirmation on whether the nutrient mitigation funding will still be delivered to affected local authorities to deliver nutrient mitigation projects to protect the environment and unlock housing.

"We have been campaigning for change in the nutrient neutrality regulations for some time.

"We've long felt that the restrictions on new housing were disproportionate in Somerset, where new housing has a limited impact in comparison to other sources of pollution.

"We currently have approximately 16,000 new homes held up by these regulations and we were one of the first local authorities to deliver a phosphate credit scheme to help unlock homes.

"As we develop the new Local Plan for Somerset, we will need to balance the need for good quality housing and the impact on our sensitive environment.

"We look forward to working with our partners in the construction industry, agriculture, Wessex Water and the environmental community to get the balance right."