By Debbie Tann MBE, Chief Executive, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
There’s no growth on a dead planet. Yet Part 3 of the Government’s new Planning and Infrastructure Bill threatens to tear up decades of environmental protection under the illusion of fuelling economic growth, despite warnings from the Office of Environmental Protection of undermining existing environmental safeguards, constituting a dangerous regression in law.
The Bill proposes a radical shift. It wants to replace the existing system of nature protection with a series of Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs). These would be funded by a Nature Restoration Levy paid by developers to offset their impact on nature. On the surface, this sounds like a win-win – money for nature and faster planning decisions. But in reality, it’s a reckless gamble that could devastate our natural world.
Paying a simple levy to fund nature restoration sounds efficient, but by allowing developers to simply ‘pay to pollute,’ the Bill dismantles three core pillars of effective environmental governance: the precautionary principle, the mitigation hierarchy (where harm should be avoided first before resorting to offsetting,) and the polluter pays rule. It risks undermining essential protections for irreplaceable habitats and species, it creates loopholes, relying on vague ‘improvement tests’, and it shifts decision-making towards political discretion instead of being science-based.
Drawn up by Natural England, EDPs are proposed as the mechanism for streamlining and delivering strategic nature recovery. However, these plans lack legal requirements to be based on up-to-date scientific evidence, provide no clarity on what constitutes success, and offer no guarantee that they will deliver genuine improvements for nature. The consequences could be catastrophic.
The irony is painful. At a time when UK nature is so desperately depleted, and with just five years to meet critical national targets to halt biodiversity decline, the Government risks making things worse. Natural England has been starved of resources for decades – piling such critical new duties on them creates a system doomed to underdeliver.
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust doesn’t oppose development, and we agree there are ways of streamlining delivery. We have proven that smart, efficient environmental mitigation systems can work: from the Solent Waders and Brent Geese Strategy to our Nutrient Neutrality programme. But these work within strong environmental frameworks, not by tearing them down.
Nature isn’t a barrier to growth – it’s the foundation of it. Thriving, biodiverse landscapes are critical to our food security, health, economy, and climate resilience. Ignoring this is dangerously short-sighted.
We are calling on MPs to pause and rethink Part 3 of this Bill. The government must recognise that a healthy economy cannot exist without a healthy planet. There’s no quick fix, and there’s certainly no growth on a dead planet.
To help protect nature, contact your MP using the template available on the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust website. For more details, visit: hiwwt.org.uk/blog/debbie-tann/part-3-planning-and-infrastructure-bill
Photo credit: Bertie Gregory 2020VISION
