28 environmental charities have served a spoof planning notice to MPs, warning that the Planning & Infrastructure Bill is an application to demolish wildlife
MPs have today been served spoof planning notices warning that the Government’s proposed Planning and Infrastructure Bill will ‘bulldoze environmental protections and demolish nature and local greenspaces’ unless crucial changes are made.
Conservationists are also highlighting examples of nature loss in the constituencies of key ministers, drawing attention to the wildlife losses that could be worsened by the Bill.
In July 2024, the deputy prime minister wrote to nature charities to say that the Government would not legislate to amend nature protections in a way that would weaken environmental law. According to the Office for Environmental Protection, environmental lawyers, and nature experts, the Government is now breaking that promise with the current version of the Bill and it must be amended.
28 charities have banded together to raise the alarm
Charities met the secretary of state, Steve Reed, last week (Thursday 15 May) where they warned that the Bill as it stands would break Government nature commitments. Following this, 28 charities, including the RSPB, the National Trust, The Wildlife Trusts, the Mammal Society, People’s Trust for Endangered Species, and Wildlife and Countryside Link have mailed the spoof notices to all English MPs and Ministers, including the Prime Minister and Secretaries of State, Steve Reed, and Angela Rayner.
Environmentalists are calling for MPs to support amendments that will deliver a planning system which works for nature, communities and sustainable development for generations to come.
England is currently facing a ‘nature crisis’
One in 6 British species are at risk of extinction, there has been a 32% decrease in wildlife populations since 1970 and the UK is among the worst 10% globally for nature loss, alongside 40% less greenspace in new developments compared to older housing.
That crisis is being played out across the country. From Steve Reed’s Streatham and Croydon constituency seeing notable losses of butterflies and common birds like the blue tit, to Angela Rayner’s constituency in Greater Manchester seeing a 90% decline in recorded insect species, charities warn that the Bill risks speeding up the loss of nature and disappearance of community greenspaces.
- In chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Leeds West and Pudsey constituency just 1 out of 7 SSSIs in the area is in favourable condition. 1 in 5 species across Yorkshire have declined by more than 25% in the last 30 years: including swifts declining by 50% and red squirrels by 69%.
- Secretary of state Steve Reed’s constituency of Streatham and Croydon North, has seen records of small tortoiseshell butterflies drop to just 10 a year, compared to over 200 a year during the 1990s, and common bird species like Blue tits are down more than 10% in the last 20 years. Water voles have largely disappeared from this and other London constituencies with just a handful of river sites where they can be found.
- In the Ashton-under-Lyne constituency of Angela Rayner, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government: records of Great spotted woodpeckers have decreased by 68% since 2007 and Song thrush by 68% since 2008. The last inspection of the Hollinwood Branch Canal SSSI protected nature sites found they were in a declining condition. The Huddersfield Narrow Canal SSSI was also found to be in an unfavourable condition.
The Planning Bill is in the final stage of amendments before going to the House of Lords
The coalition fears that the Bill in its current form would severely weaken existing environmental protections and lead to the decline or destruction of UK wildlife, wild places and green spaces in communities, with no guarantee of local environmental improvements in return for new development.
In their notice, the coalition reiterated their warning that the Government’s proposals would leave essential protection for wildlife and local neighbourhoods without the scientific safeguards, the delivery guarantees, or the positive plans for nature recovery that could justify such serious risks. Essential safeguards like the Habitats Regulations could be critically weakened. The Government’s own advisors, the Office for Environmental Protection recently concluded that the Bill constitutes regression on environmental legal protections.
In April the coalition wrote to Steve Reed and minister Mathew Pennycook warning of the urgent changes needed to the Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill to avoid complete extinction of species and destruction of the natural spaces that millions of people depend on for their health and wellbeing.
The organisations want to see the government commit to:
- Guarantee results: The current law demands a high level of legal and scientific certainty for environmental outcomes. However the Bill only requires outcomes to be “likely”. Government must ensure benefits are delivered and clearly outweigh harm.
- Avoid harm: Existing rules require developers to avoid damage to protected wildlife. The Bill drops this in favour of a “pay to pollute” model. Future planning rules must ensure that harm must be avoided wherever possible.
- Follow the science: Environmental Delivery Plans should only apply to new protected features where there’s solid scientific evidence they work.
- Make planning Wilder By Design: Create a legal duty for Councils to help meet climate and nature targets, strong national and marine plans, and low-cost, nature-friendly design like bee and bird bricks in new developments.
The “Planning and Infrastructure Bill risks taking an axe to our natural environment”
James Cooper, head of External Affairs at Woodland Trust, said: “The Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill risks taking an axe to our natural environment. In its current form, it could fatally undermine decades-old protections, including those of ancient trees and woods, which are already in need of better protection.
“Public outrage over the felling of treasured trees like the Sycamore Gap and Whitewebbs Oak shows just how important green spaces are to people. Nature is a necessity – not a blocker to be dealt with. The Government urgently needs to rethink its bill and put woods, trees and wildlife at the heart of its reforms, delivering the win-win it promised. This means embedding nature in planning so that everyone can benefit from it – regardless of where they live.”
Hilary McGrady, director-general of the National Trust, said: “With the right planning laws in place, we can restore our dwindling wildlife, increase the green spaces near where people live and build much-needed new homes surrounded by great nature. But as it currently stands, the Bill risks doing the very reverse, as the Government’s own nature watchdog has pointed out.
“The question for the Chancellor and the Prime Minister is do they want to be remembered as the Government that brought nature back into millions of people’s lives? Or do they want to further deprive current and future generations of this essential, universal need?”
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