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A council will seek to acquire land for new wetland areas in a bid to offset the environmental impact of further house building.
Natural England has advised Ashford Borough Council (ABC) that any new developments within the River Stour's catchment must show 'nutrient neutrality' to protect the conditions at Stodmarsh Lakes.
The wetlands, which are located in the Canterbury district, are an internationally-important nature reserve - and high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous have put a stop to planned new housing schemes across the east of Kent.
ABC has found itself now unable to grant planning permission within the Stour catchment, which it says leaves it unable to deliver the housing growth identified in the Local Plan.
Consultants have been drafted in to work on a Stodmarsh Mitigation Strategy and they have identified the creation of new wetlands as an opportunity to generate nitrogen and phosphorus 'credits' which can then be applied to development proposals to achieve nutrient neutrality.
Similar credit-based schemes are already in place in the Solent region.
Cllr Neil Bell, ABC portfolio holder for planning, said: "The issues at Stodmarsh Lakes were presented to the council with little warning, but the severity of the advice cannot be underestimated.
"We have faced, and continue to face, a significant impediment to the granting of planning permissions for new housing development in highly-sustainable locations which have been carefully and diligently identified through our Local Plan 2030, following a rigorous independent examination process.
"The Stodmarsh Mitigation Strategy is a means of trying to find a solution to the issue within our own border. It is progressing well, and the clear emerging outcome is that new strategic wetland areas are needed as the most optimum, deliverable and quickest solution. Failure to act would have far more serious implications.
"While this is a financial burden that the council should not have to face, given the nature of the issue, we need to move forward with seeking to acquire land for such purposes, as a means of solving the problem."
Among the schemes to fall foul of the impact on Stodmarsh were plans for housing to be built on the former Wye College site.
Two separate applications to redevelop land in Wye were thrown out because of what a planning inspector called "an unacceptable risk of harm to the Stodmarsh Site of Special Scientific Interest".
Now one of the proposals, for 40 homes on former college land at Olantigh Road in Wye, has been resubmitted to ABC for consideration.
A planning statement prepared on behalf of developers Tele Property Investments presents a new water treatment system as a solution which can overcome the question of nutrient neutrality and allow the plans to go ahead.
