Photo by Ross Hoddinott/2020Vision
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill
Your voice makes a difference - take action now!It's not "nature or development". It's both.
There is a nature crisis and a housing crisis. The Government suggests their Planning and Infrastructure Bill will be the antidote to both these problems by speeding up the building of 1.5 million new homes whilst enabling large-scale nature conservation projects across England.
However, parts of the Bill currently threaten nature's recovery in England. This isn’t good for wildlife, or people.
BBOWT is concerned that the proposed legislation will cause a huge backward step in environmental law and protections for some of our most important and vulnerable habitats and species.
How you can help influence the Bill
Thank you to everyone who has taken part in our campaigns to reduce the risks the Planning & Infrastructure Bill poses to nature.
Your voice makes a difference – and there's still time to tell your MP that nature matters to you.
In response to huge pressure the Government amended the Bill to add some environmental safeguards in July. In October the Lords voted to add important protections for chalk streams (amendment 94) to the Bill. Crucially, the Lords also voted to back amendment 130, which would prevent Part 3 of the Bill applying in areas where it could hurt wildlife.
The Bill returned to the Commons for votes on the amendments
On 10 November, both amendments returned to the Commons. They were given new numbers for this stage, which we will refer to in brackets after the Lords amendment number. Over 30,000 of The Wildlife Trusts' supporters emailed their MPs asking them to retain amendment 130 (now amendment 40) and amendment 94 (now amendment 38).
On 13 November, despite some great speeches from MPs of all parties backing the amendments, the Government whipped its supporters in the Commons to reject both amendments.
Now the Bill returns to the Lords
The Bill now returns to the Lords, who will vote on whether to insist on the amendments, after which there may be more Commons votes.
We are continuing to urge parliamentarians to support the amendments by writing to Ministers and speaking and voting for changes when they are next debated.
We are grateful for the incredible number of emails nature-lovers have sent to MPs and encourage people to keep going. The more pressure we can keep up, the more likely it is we can win vital changes for wildlife, even at this late stage.
Nature needs us to keep fighting!
Thank you for your support. Let’s keep the pressure on at this vital moment. If you have already contacted your MP about the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, please do it again to tell them that Amendments 130 (now amendment 40) and 94 (now amendment 38) need to stay.
It's now or never. This is the last chance to protect nature in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Email your MP to keep the amendments in the Bill.
Speak up, speak loudly and speak now!
Click below to download our #CASHTOTRASH toolkit.
Part Three and the so called ‘Nature Restoration Fund’ explained
What does the Bill mean for developers and nature?
Part Three of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill ‘Development and Nature Recovery’ will grant new powers to Natural England to design and deliver Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs). These plans will identify environmental features that will be negatively affected by developments in a particular area. Money from the new Nature Restoration Fund will then be used to deliver conservation measures to offset these harms. Essentially, it allows developers to pay for a licence to trash nature.
Where implemented, these EDPs will replace obligations under the Habitat Regulations that require developers to assess the impacts of projects on protected features of protected sites or species. Instead of carrying out project level assessments, developers will be able to pay to offset the harms they create without assessment. The absence of assessments and surveys means developers won’t even know what species and habitats they are destroying. Currently developers first need to avoid harm to nature, the bill will remove that requirement where an area is covered by an EDP.
#CASHTOTRASH
In its current form the legislation will not guarantee adequate environmental recovery, and in fact it risks undermining much of the hard-won progress for environmental protection that has been gained over the last 70 years.
It could represent the biggest attack on our environmental protections for a generation.
Planning bill would allow builders to ‘pay cash to trash’ nature, warns UK experts in letter to MPs
Don’t let this Bill become law without the safeguards needed to protect nature.
The UK Government needs to understand that high-quality, sustainable development doesn't need to be at the expense of struggling wildlife or climate. It’s not a one or the other decision.
Even with the recent amendments, the Government's Planning & Infrastructure Bill undermines the mitigation hierarchy, which is crucial to ensure that nature is properly considered throughout the planning process.
So, what is the mitigation hierarchy? Watch below to find out.
You can read more about the Government's amendments and continuing flaws in the bill here:
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill: review of the amendments - Estelle Bailey MBE, Chief Executive of BBOWT
Why the amendments to the bill are not enough - Estelle Bailey MBE
A house divided cannot stand - Estelle Bailey MBE
Reforms must protect nature - Matthew Stanton, Director of External Affairs
The Nature Restoration Fund - Joe Humpage, Policy Assistant
Planning by numbers - Becky Pullinger, RSWT Head of Land Use Planning
Podcasts
If you are interested in helping wildlife by lobbying your MP and/or local councillors, how about joining our growing community of more than 1,000 Wildlife Ambassadors? We will contact you with suggested actions, including advice about what you can include in your communications.