New research from the Wildlife Trusts shows that bats and Great Crested Newts are a factor in just 3% of planning appeal decisions. This reveals conclusively that some politicians’ attempts to blame wildlife for slow economic growth are wide of the mark. This evidence 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, The Wildlife Trusts have backed calls from conservationists and economists 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 The Wildlife Trusts have joined 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.
Protections for bats and Great Crested Newts and their habitats have often been scapegoated by politicians as typical impediments to infrastructure projects. Surrey Wildlife Trust is of the view that effective licensing processes are already in place to ensure that developers can cost-effectively mitigate impacts on Great Crested Newts and bats.
Surrey Wildlife Trust CEO Sarah Jane Chimbwandira says:
“Before the General Election Labour promised to restore nature, so it’s depressing that we are now seeing an ill-informed and counterproductive charge against the natural world. Growth and jobs are essential, but we must never forget that nature is the very foundation of the economy, society and people’s health. Destroying it will do nothing to improve people’s lives.
“The Government’s Planning & Infrastructure Bill, in its current form, fundamentally undermines its stated commitment to protect nature. The so-called Nature Recovery part of the Bill 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 species at risk.
“It’s completely unfair to paint conservationists as ‘blockers’ to progress, and Surrey Wildlife Trust has a proud record of working with responsible businesses of all kinds. Our colleagues across the Wildlife Trusts movement have offered constructive solutions that would allow the Bill to achieve its aim of accelerating well-planned developments that are good for both people and nature. We’re appalled that these have all been spurned. That’s why we’re now saying the misleadingly named ‘Nature Recovery’ section must be removed.”
RSPB Chief Executive Beccy Speight says:
“Despite engaging in good faith with the UK Government for many months, it’s now clear that the Bill in its current form will rip the heart out of environmental protections and risks sending nature further into freefall.
“The fate of our most important places for nature and the laws that protect them are all in the firing line. The wild spaces, ancient woodlands, babbling brooks and the beautiful melody of the dawn chorus – it’s these natural wonders that delight people all over the country and support our physical and mental health that are under threat. That cannot be allowed to stand.
“The evidence clearly shows nature isn’t a blocker to growth. The government has identified the wrong obstacle to the problem it’s trying to overcome, and that has led it to the wrong solutions. With no meaningful amendment in sight, the complete removal of Part 3 of the Bill is the only responsible option left.”
The Planning Bill threatens to put the most protected, valuable and vulnerable sites for nature at risk. Surrey’s precious woodland, grassland, heathland and wetland sites, which are home to some of the UK’s rarest wildlife and which provide essential resilience against the effects of pollution and climate change 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.
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.
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