Westmorland and Furness Council has gone out to tender with a contract to deliver permanent nutrient neutrality mitigation in Cumbria via septic tanks upgrades worth an estimated £10.5 million.

Photo: River Derwent

Westmorland and Furness Council, together with Cumberland Council and the Lake District National Park, established the Nutrient Neutrality North West partnership to drive a Cumbria-wide approach to addressing nutrient neutrality in the following four affected catchments:

• River Derwent and Bassenthwaite Lake SAC
• River Eden SAC
• River Kent SAC
• Esthwaite Water Ramsar

Two of the main aims are to identify and promote the delivery of practical mitigation options in the catchments to unlock new housing developments and establish a process to offer mitigation options through nutrient credit trading.

Following the award of a significant grant under the Government’s Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund (LNMF), the council is now seeking to procure suitably qualified and experienced contractors to support the delivery of nutrient (phosphorous) credits through a programme of upgrading private septic tanks across the four catchments, which can then be traded through a credit scheme to be launched in the second half of 2025.

Initial contract term is 36 months.

Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate is 24 March 2025

The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at www.the-chest.org.uk on current opportunities using reference number DN764440. Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via www.the-chest.org.uk