The Planning and Infrastructure Bill: A threat to nature

Planning & Policy Manager for Kent Wildlife Trust, Nicky Britton-Williams, explores our concerns with The Planning & Infrastructure Bill.

 

If you cast your mind back one year ago, you may remember reading some positive commitments to nature in the Labour Party manifesto. As the country looked on, Labour acknowledged that “the climate crisis has accelerated the nature crisis” and that “the climate and nature crisis is the greatest long-term global challenge that we face.” For many of us working day in and day out to tackle the nature and climate crisis in Kent and beyond, there was a glimmer of hope that the new government would make good on its promises to “improve access to nature, promote biodiversity, and protect our landscapes and wildlife,” and to take action “to meet our Environment Act targets.” 

That’s not to say the manifesto didn’t raise some red flags, with its promises to “forge ahead” with new development, making “major projects faster and cheaper by slashing red tape.” At the time, these concerns were slightly abated by commitments to “ensure we are building more high-quality, well-designed, and sustainable homes and creating places that increase climate resilience and promote nature recovery,” and assurances that development would be unlocked “without weakening environmental protections.” 

However, over the last year any hope that I had has been gradually chipped away...

 

Nature is being pitted against development

 

The Government has steadily rolled back on its promises to tackle the housing crisis and the nature crisis in tandem. Instead, nature is being cast as the enemy of economic development, with the facts being skewed to fit a pre-determined narrative. Newts and bats have been pitted against housebuilding, and yet new evidence shows that these species were a factor in just 3% of planning appeal decisions. Claims that the Distinguished Jumping Spider blocked housing development on the Swanscombe Peninsula were a gross misrepresented of the facts - see our letter to the Prime Minister here. Those standing up for nature are now at risk of being branded NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yards), a clear attempt to discredit and dilute our voices.  

And yet, we will not back down in our fight to defend nature. 

Great crested newt swimming with clear vision of its orange and black spotted underbelly

 

Our concerns with the Planning and Infrastructure Bill

 

The publication of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill brought fresh concerns. While the Government received a huge number of highly detailed consultation responses to the Planning Reform Working Papers earlier this year (read our response here), it appears that these have been entirely disregarded. At the heart of our concerns is Part 3 of the Bill, which would allow developers to pay into Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs) to satisfy their environmental obligations. In principle, this concept could work in some circumstances, if strict safeguards were implemented and EDPs were based on robust ecological evidence. However, that is not the case being put forward by the Government. Instead, there will be no requirement for EDPs to be based on ecological evidence, no obligation to demonstrate that they will significantly improve environmental features, and no priority given to avoiding harm to nature. This would be a huge step backwards for nature and society as a whole. Given the extremely high levels of development pressure in Kent, we would be hugely impacted. 

 

We joined the other Wildlife Trusts in putting forward a suite of amendments necessary to ensure that environmental protections, including the mitigation hierarchy, are not watered down or even scrapped. It is incredibly disappointing to learn that the Government has no intention of considering these amendments and instead appears determined to rush through a Bill that would only serve to accelerate nature’s decline. 

A Daubentons bat flying through the dark night sky.
©️ Dale Sutton/2020VISION

What we can do

As a country we must not take a step backwards in our environmental protections. This is not a case of people vs wildlife. Human life depends on healthy and thriving ecosystems, and it is essential that nature recovery and access to nature sit at the heart of the Government’s plans for economic development.

Find out more about how you can help