West Dorset’s MP Chris Loder held a summit with Rebecca Pow MP, Minister for Environmental Quality and Resilience, on Friday 12th May. The pair convened at a farm near Puddletown, along with representatives from DEFRA, the Environment Agency, Dorset Council, and Natural England.
The summit centred on the ongoing developments with the management of nitrates in the Poole Harbour catchment area. The catchment area is ecologically important, and the River Frome, Piddle, and its tributaries - which flow through West Dorset - feed into it. Mr Loder said:
“Agriculture contributes to 66% of the nitrogen that enters Poole Harbour, and today we heard representations from the Poole Harbour Agriculture Group about the management of nitrates as well as the Environment Agency and Natural England.”
Mr Loder continued: “It is important that any scheme to resolve this matter finds a balance between farming needs and the interests of the environment. A voluntary, rather than regulatory approach, seems the most preferable approach to the hundreds of farmers I have consulted”.
