The disturbing state of the River Camel
In 2021 Natural England wrote to Cornwall Council that the River Camel was in an ‘unsatisfactory state’ and due to European law there must be an embargo on all development in the River Camel catchment area until the river is returned to a satisfactory state. In February 2026 Natural England, following confirmation from SWW of forthcoming upgrades to waste treatments works (WwTWs) wrote to Cornwall Council advising the embargo area is now reduced (see map below). Therefore building developments in the Bodmin Nanstallon, Scarletts Well, Blisland and St Breward WwTW catchment may now be approved with appropriate planning conditions or obligations in place. After further talks with Planning Officers it appears that this direction is not evidence based. In other words Natural England has not produced the evidence to substantiate their nutrient neutrality advice. Common sense would dictate this is not a satisfactory situation as there is no evidence of the upgrades or the fact that the state of the River Camel is now in an ‘improved’ state.
In 2024 Nanstallon WwTW discharged 1,625.18 hours of untreated sewage into the Camel. In 2024 Blisland WwTW had a complete failure for nearly 12 months whereby 10 tankers of sewage had to be transported to Nanstallon WwTW. There was no notification to residents, no public engagement and no apology to the residents for the inconvenience. After much pressure from the Parish Council and the ward member a visit to site revealed an essential piece of equipment had failed which indicated lack of investment in infrastructure.
A 2 acres piece of land was purchased by Cornwall Council as part of phosphate mitigation plan. The application has now been withdrawn with no known plans to put this phosphate mitigation plan in place.
What is of concern is the pace at which housing developments will be approved without any evidence of upgrades from SWW. Natural England have as yet not provided the analysis to inform the amendment to the catchment and therefore the evidence is NOT published or advised in any clear form other than Habitats Regulations in individual planning conditions, which may or may not be scrutinised.
58 open market houses PA23/07573 were approved by Officer delegation on the 20th March 2026 in the Bodmin area. Natural England had ‘no objection – subject to appropriate mitigation being secured.’ However, without this mitigation the application would
‘Have an adverse effect on the integrity of the River Camel SAC
Damage or destroy the interest features for which the River Camel Valley and Tributaries SIS has been notified.’
This cannot be a satisfactory situation. To depend upon developers to self regulate who have a poor record of complying with conditions and completing developments in a timely and transparent way is somewhat optimistic.
Elsewhere in the Camel catchment area discharge from the Delabole WwTW in to the River Allen which leads to the Camel is at a frightening 3,264 hours in 2024. The embargo remains in place for this area and others where it is presumed no upgrades are planned.
Over the past 5 years any development that has gone forward had been previously passed and housing projects are now coming forward that have been in abeyance during the embargo. A certain amount of work has been undertaken by the EA to encourage farmers to cover slurry pits (which is now a legal requirement) and some private farmers discharging septic tanks to fields have lost their license, which may account for the increase in discharge at Nanstallon. It is well documented during wet weather that septic tankers are forced to take their tankers out of Cornwall for discharge.
All of this does not paint a pretty picture for the future of the Camel River. This was once a thriving salmon spawning area, with bull head trout and a good otter and other protected species population. The river remains in an unsatisfactory state, and it cannot be possible to make improvements whilst large housing estates are approved for build. Significant damage is done to wildlife under construction and subsequently the introduction of concrete and loss of natural drainage causes local flooding;
Government planning policy has put pressure on Cornwall to allocate for over 4,000 houses per year and to determine in favour of developments some of which have no benefit for local people who cannot afford open market prices. Brown field sites are left undeveloped since they are often expensive to bring to built status.This revised advice is now in place in the Camel Special Area of Conservation. The question is not answered as to how Cornwall Council as the ‘competent authority’ is making very important decisions without the evidence in place to confirm no further damage will ensue for the Camel River.
