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Is the Government’s latest legislation a “win, win” for housing and nature? Ginetta Vedrickas reports The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is central to the Government’s plan to “Get Britain Building” as well as delivering economic growth. The bill aims to “speed up and streamline the delivery of new homes” as well as critical infrastructure, which will support delivery of its Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England and fast- tracking 150 planning decisions on major economic infrastructure projects by the end of this Parliament. Currently passing through Parliament, the committee stage is designed to review in detail what the bill proposes and allow for any amendments, proposals for changes, which will be debated and voted on. Evidence gathering is also part of this stage where the committee hears from experts and stakeholders. The bill intends to make it easier, particularly for smaller and medium sized housebuilders, SMEs, to get planning permission to build as it hopes to remove “building blockers and time wasting nimbys” ie objections to building developments on the grounds that it will destroy wildlife and habitats. WHAT DOES THE BILL MEAN FOR HOUSEBUILDERS? Currently, housebuilders are supposed to follow a set of guidelines when it comes to wildlife and habitats under ESG, environmental, social, and governance rules. These three components measure the impact of a business on the environment and society, and how transparent and
Pointing to Labour’s manifesto, which described Britain as “one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world”, Monbiot believes that the bill will cause further harm and he warns that paying a “nature restoration levy” to offset potential harm is unscientific as the legislation does not specify that ecological site surveys, to determine what is on-site and measure potential harm, are carried out. WHAT DO WILDLIFE AND CONSERVATION GROUPS SAY? UK nature organisations have written to the environment and housing secretaries warning that this “one-sided” bill could allow developers to ignore environmental protections. Richard Benwell, CE of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said, “The Government is right that a win-win is possible for nature and development, but the Planning Bill is completely one- sided. It throws environmental protection to the wind, with little to offer future generations fearful for the future of nature. It would leave irreplaceable habitats like chalk streams and ancient woodlands more exposed than ever to unsustainable development. Promises of nature recovery efforts in return are thin and uncertain.” CEOs from charities including the National Trust, the Wildlife Trusts, Butterfly Conservation and the Woodland Trust, have proposed amendments in order to rebalance the bill towards nature. These include a guarantee for upfront environmental benefits – new habitats
accountable it is. For example, if developers discover existing wildlife such as bats or newts on the site where they intend building, they are supposed to adhere to a “mitigation hierarchy”. Firstly, guidelines say that developers should avoid building in places where wildlife is known to frequent, especially if there are rare species such as newts. If this isn’t possible then they should minimise any harm. The next step is to restore any habitats that may have been damaged through construction and, finally, if all options can’t be followed, then they should create an alternative habitat elsewhere. But the bill will mean that developers can bypass these stages and simply pay a “nature restoration levy” to offset any damage. WHY ARE THERE OBJECTIONS TO THE BILL? The UK inherited much of its legislation from the EU, which the last Government promised to uphold, but wildlife and nature conservation charities who have been working with the Government to ensure that environmental concerns are listened to say that this bill erases decades of environmental protections. In his column for The Guardian , environmental activist George Monbiot wrote, “Those of us who try to defend wildlife are horribly familiar with bad laws. But we’ve never seen anything like this. The Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill is the worst assault on England’s ecosystems in living memory.”
128 First Time Buyer August/September 2025
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