In early 2023, Cornwall Council sought expressions of interest from landholders in the catchment to help address the issue of phosphates in the Camel Special Area of Conservation holding up housing development.

There is more info on the current planning situation here

The Council, supported by Westcountry Rivers Trust, reached out to landholders in the catchment to find sites where phosphates from agriculture can be reduced, to offset those being produced by new housing.

The aim has been to kickstart a trading scheme where developers will pay phosphate credits for actions on farms such as river buffer creation, low input grassland and haymaking, cover crops or converting arable to grassland.

In the long term, South West Water will be updating their sewage treatment works to strip out more phosphates before they enter the river, but there will still be a need for some long term land use change, such as conversion of riverside land to wetland or woodland.

These land use changes can potentially attract additional funding for biodiversity net gain and other ecosystem services alongside the water quality improvements.