Herefordshire’s innovative Luston Wetland project has been officially opened, with a little help from television’s Kevin McCloud MBE.

The writer, designer and presenter, best known for fronting Channel 4s Grand Designs, delivered a keynote speech at the opening of the site, which has been helping to tackle nutrient pollution in the county’s rivers for a year.

High levels of phosphate have long been known to damage our rivers including the Wye and Lugg. By 2019, Natural England advised the Herefordshire Council of how the Lugg sub catchment's phosphate levels meant that to protect the river, any new development must fully offset its phosphate load.

A crowd of Luston residents at the remarkable openingA crowd of Luston residents at the remarkable opening (Image: Herefordshire Council)

Herefordshire Council responded to this with a unique global first in developing the Luston Wetland to capture and remove phosphate, helping to improve the wellbeing of our rivers. The scheme ensures that more phosphate is removed from the river system than is returned to it through any form of development and provides a boost to local biodiversity and wildlife, helping to safeguard our natural environment as a county.

The Luston Wetland was initially partly funded by the Local Enterprise Fund’s New Homes Bonus, and the Council will recoup costs through developer contributions to reinvest in further wetland sites, the first of which will be at Tarrington.

The wetland will improve our river wellbeing (Image: Herefordshire Council)

Cllr Elissa Swinglehurst, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “It was a delight to be part of Luston’s official opening. It’s a great opportunity to reflect on the huge effort and innovative thinking that has gone into developing the wetland project over a number of years.

"The project has delivered wide benefits for biodiversity and has helped to release the potential of 1000 homes in North Herefordshire, with 620 having already been granted permission.

“Luston wetland is truly a world first and is already being held up as a national exemplar.

"The site is helping us to tackle the critical issue of nutrient pollution and its subsequent economic repercussions; helping the county to close the gap on the housing needs in our Local Plan while staying firm in our commitment to river pollution at its root causes.”

Mr McCloud said: “Something happened here that is just brilliant, and that is the coming together of people; it is cross-fertilisation of ideas and disciplines. This is a beautiful, glorious exemplar that is a huge success. I thoroughly applaud it.”

More information about Luston Wetland can be found on the Herefordshire Council website.