Planning and Infrastructure Bill
It’s not ‘nature or development’. It’s both.
The UK Government promised to protect and restore nature. But less than a year in, new planning changes are set to weaken environmental protections for developments, like housebuilding.
This is bad for wildlife and for people.
We have tried to work with Ministers to highlights gaps for nature in the new Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Yet at every stage our efforts have been ignored. Enough is enough.
We’re tired of hearing the blame for slow development being placed on wildlife when evidence shows this just isn’t true.
All you need to know about the Planning and Infrastructure Bill
How you can help:
Want development to work in harmony with nature? There’s no time to lose!
We’re demanding Ministers scrap Part Three of the Bill, which is the section that would weaken protections for wildlife. And you can help!
We’ve made it easy for you to email your MP, and we’ll copy in the Chancellor to every email. We want the Treasury to know that MPs are getting involved, and we want the Chancellor to hear from you too.
Take part in our e-action:
What is Norfolk Wildlife Trust doing?
We are working with The Wildlife Trusts nationally to submit evidence and make recommendations to the committee reviewing the Bill, to try and make nature’s voice heard in the decision-making.
We’ve also sent a briefing to all of Norfolk’s MPs, asking for their support during the committee discussions taking place from 22 April – 22 May.
We are calling for four amendments to be made to the Bill:
· Prioritise avoiding harm: Developers must prioritise avoiding environmental damage before relying on mitigation schemes, with harm to protected sites only permitted for overriding public interest.
· Base decisions on science: New protected features should only be added when clear scientific evidence supports the effectiveness of strategic approaches.
· Guarantee upfront benefits: Environmental improvements must be delivered upfront, especially for irreplaceable or significant damage, with a clear and transparent improvement plan.
· Ensure “Net Gain for nature: Strengthen the improvement test to require definite, measurable, and significant benefits, rather than just probable improvements.
We are also pushing for the Government to improve protections for chalk streams, local wildlife sites and create wildbelts, to protect land that is supporting nature’s recovery.
The committee will then submit a draft of the Bill to the government to review. Amending the Bill to be better for both people and nature.
Our open letter to Angela Rayner
We sent an open letter to Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to ask that our government create a Bill that will help recover nature so that everyone can benefit from a flourishing natural world.
22,000 people signed it nationally, including thousands from the Eastern Region, adding their voices to the "nature vs development" debate.
Eden Jackson
A building threat to Norfolk’s nature
We need sustainable development that goes hand-in-hand with nature, not a new law that accelerates its decline.