Hertfordshire County Council approved a new Environmental Integration Mandate in early February 2026 that requires every council-funded project to undergo a rigorous climate and biodiversity audit. The policy is county-wide but has an immediate focus on schemes along the Cheshunt A10 corridor; projects funded by the county will need to demonstrate Net Positive Biodiversity and lifecycle carbon neutrality before receiving Cabinet sign‑off.
The move will affect large developments including the Brookfield Riverside scheme, which Invest Hertfordshire lists with a gross development value of about £600m and which includes hundreds of homes and a sizeable retail and leisure area. The council says its new assessment could require measures such as enhanced use of heat pumps and ‘living’ (plant-covered) walls as part of meeting the new standards.
The policy follows a change of administration after the May 2025 local elections, when the Liberal Democrats became the largest party at County Hall and Cllr Steve Jarvis was appointed council leader. Jarvis has said the council will prioritise projects that help the county reach its 2030 carbon‑neutrality goal and that funding will not be approved for projects that do not meet the new sustainability tests.
The development partner for Brookfield is Sovereign Peveril (a joint venture involving Sovereign Centros and Peveril Securities), which — alongside Broxbourne Borough Council — will need to ensure its reserved‑matters and infrastructure proposals meet the county’s new requirements.
Conservative opposition leader Cllr Richard Roberts has warned that the additional assessments could slow delivery and push up costs for projects and taxpayers. Despite those concerns, the county council is moving ahead with the new assessment regime to make environmental performance a governing factor in funding decisions.
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