The Environment Agency (EA) has today set out crucial recommendations aimed at fostering sustainable growth within England's key industrial clusters: Humber, Teesside, and HyNet (North West).

A newly published report highlights the imperative for future planning reforms, including universal coverage of spatial development strategies, to fully realise the economic and environmental potential of these vital industrial hubs.

The report advocates for industrial clusters to be better integrated into future planning policies to accelerate new projects and drive local growth. This includes ensuring new clusters are developed with adequate environmental infrastructure, such as sufficient water supply, to guarantee sustainable operations. The EA also identified significant challenges to long-term growth, including water resource availability and climate-related shocks like flooding. Solutions outlined include strategic growth plans and utilising existing planning tools at a cluster scale to reduce planning hurdles.

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Environment Agency Chief Executive Philip Duffy commented: “Delivering genuinely sustainable growth is core to the Environment Agency’s mission. Today’s report sets out how well-planned industrial clusters can accelerate delivery of the government’s growth and clean energy missions whilst protecting water, air and land.” The EA confirmed its readiness to collaborate with the government to implement these evidence-based recommendations and make sustainable industrial clusters a reality.

The agency is also exploring how new approaches to permitting industrial clusters could unlock economic growth, given that the current regime offers limited options for establishing new industries. Working alongside government and industry, the EA will provide technical advice on adapting permitting processes to accommodate growth in constrained areas, while also addressing environmental pressures from non-permitted sources.

Industrial clusters, typically located along major rivers and estuaries, house carbon-intensive industries like oil refining and manufacturing. While offering benefits such as shared infrastructure and access to skilled workforces, they also face significant threats from climate change, including rising sea levels and extreme weather events. The report stresses that new net zero infrastructure must be designed for more extreme climate conditions, and existing infrastructure must enhance its climate resilience. Developers and local authorities are urged to incorporate future climate impacts into their design processes, as required by national planning policy.