New research is published today showing that bats and great crested newts are a factor in just 3% of planning appeal decisions. This evidence that nature does not block growth is published as the Planning & Infrastructure Bill reached a critical stage today when the Committee discussion of the Bill ended. The report, Planning & Development: nature isn’t the problem, adds to the growing body of evidence – including the Government’s own impact assessment – showing that nature protections do not block growth.
A new poll, also published today, shows that the public think the Government is failing nature. Conducted by Savanta and commissioned by The Wildlife Trusts, it finds:
· Less than a third of adult voters believe the Government is taking the nature crisis seriously enough (26%), is listening to local people in planning decisions (24%) and is achieving success in expanding nature-rich habitats (24%).
· Less than a third (32%) also felt the Government had kept its promise to improve access to nature, promote biodiversity and protect our landscapes and wildlife.
· Just a quarter of respondents (25%) said they would support new building developments in their local area if these new developments harmed the local environment.
The Office for Environmental Protection recently declared that the Planning & Infrastructure Bill will cause environmental regression. To date, we and other NGOs have called for a series of amendments which would tone down the most damaging aspects of the Bill, while also suggesting positive measures to improve it such as adding safeguards for irreplaceable habitats like chalk streams. However, the Government has rejected these and so now we are joining forces with the RSPB to call for the Nature Recovery part 3 of the Bill to be removed.
The Planning & Infrastructure Bill was introduced in March, following months of false statements from the Chancellor claiming that nature protections were a blocker on development and pledging action in the name of growth.
Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts says:
“Before the General Election Labour promised to restore nature. Under a year later, the Chancellor is leading an ideological charge against the natural world despite it being the very foundation of the economy, society and people’s health. Promises have been broken, and millions of people have been betrayed.
“The Government’s Planning & Infrastructure Bill, in its current form, fundamentally undermines its commitment to protect nature. The so-called Nature Recovery part of the Bill is a Trojan horse – it’s a misnomer because, in reality, it is a licence to destroy. It replaces vital nature protections with a weaker substitute, and has been described by the Government’s own nature watchdog as ‘environmentally regressive’ because it puts irreplaceable habitats and threatened species at risk.
“The Wildlife Trusts and others have offered constructive solutions that would allow the Bill to proceed and achieve its aim to accelerate development whilst maintaining strong environmental protections. We’re appalled that these have all been spurned. Nature is in crisis and must not suffer further damage – that’s why we’re now saying the misleadingly named ‘Nature Recovery’ section must be removed.”
Eliot Lyne, our chief executive, said:
“'It would be a travesty if our government were to drive this damaging legislation blindly through - against the will of the communities they represent and, alarmingly, against all logic. Over 148,000 Labour voters in Norfolk have been betrayed, and the fate of our most important places for nature and the laws that protect them are all at risk.
‘Walks in Norfolk's ancient woodlands, time alongside our crystal-clear chalk streams, the peaceful vistas offered by our heaths and saltmarshes and the sound of the dawn chorus – it’s these natural wonders that delight people all over the county, bring visitors to Norfolk and support our physical and mental health that are under threat. And these wildlife-rich habitats also hold the key to the ecosystems that make sustainable progress possible. Allowing their destruction cannot in any terms be considered as a sensible route to growth and the heartbreaking consequences could be irreversible.’
The Planning Bill threatens to put the most protected, valuable and vulnerable sites for Norfolk’s nature at risk including hundreds of nature reserves covering many thousands of hectares and around 1,500 County Wildlife Sites. Places loved by residents and visitors alike, such as the North Norfolk Coast, the Wensum Valley, Foxley Wood, the Norfolk Broads and rivers such as the Wensum and Glaven will no longer be as strongly protected from development. Furthermore, any commitments required of developers to restore and improve nature will not be guaranteed to benefit the communities who lost their local natural spaces – compensation could take place miles away, even in another county.
In March this year, Norfolk residents co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Angela Rayner MP, sharing their concern for our county’s wildlife in the face of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Some of the comments included:
“Nature is crucial for people’s wellbeing as well as for other animals. Development must not be at the expense of nature's recovery over the UK. We should be leaders in this field not just going all out for more housing and giving token concern for nature." Norfolk resident
“For far too long ignorance and a failure to recognise the supreme importance of our natural heritage by successive governments has resulted in one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. It is now time for the positive change that this government was elected to instigate.” Norfolk resident
“Nature is critical for sustainable development. It provides us with clean air and water, critical in providing food, and if we wish to have healthy communities and economies than nature has the most vital role in that.” Norfolk resident
The legislation would significantly weaken important Habitat Regulations – rules which have helped to effectively protect wildlife and wild spaces for decades. In so doing the Bill risks stripping away vital protections without clear requirements on developers to deliver the nature restoration needed to revive precious landscapes such as chalk streams, wildflower meadows and ancient woodlands and to protect treasured species like hazel dormice, otters and struggling bird and butterfly species.
The Planning Bill follows on from months of anti-nature rhetoric from the Chancellor, and amidst a backdrop of an ongoing Treasury squeeze on the farming budget that supports nature restoration.
Find out how you can help on our Planning and Infrastructure Bill campaign page
