Policy information sourced from the East Herts District Plan

WAT3 Water Quality and the Water Environment

Development proposals will be required to preserve or enhance the water environment, ensuring improvements in surface water quality and the ecological value of watercourses and their margins and the protection of groundwater.

Unless there is clear justification for not doing so, an undeveloped buffer strip at least 8 metres wide should be maintained alongside all main rivers, and an appropriate buffer strip should be maintained at ordinary watercourses. Any development proposals should include an appropriate management scheme for buffer strips.

Opportunities for removal of culverts, river restoration and naturalisation should be considered as part of any development adjacent to a watercourse. Additional culverting and development of river corridors will be resisted.

For more information please see the District Plan