Nature charities are pressing the prime minister and chancellor to stop demonising wildlife and to urgently strengthen environmental protections in new planning laws, the Guardian reported.
The RSPB, the National Trust and the Wildlife Trusts, are calling on MPs to back amendments to the planning and infrastructure bill to end what they say is the scapegoating of nature for the failures of the planning system.
A YouGov poll commissioned by the groups revealed 71% of the public would support increased planning protections for green and blue spaces, including fields, woodland, community parks, national parks, rivers, lakes and streams.
The organisations are urging MPs to back amendments to toughen environmental protections in the bill, including adding strict rules that environmental benefits must significantly outweigh harm from development and a legal duty to avoid harm to protected wildlife wherever possible.
Photo: Maharsh Borad
RSPB analysis
The RSPB say that their analysis shows that new powers proposed in the Bill could weaken existing environmental protections and move further away from nature’s recovery.
RSPB Chief Executive Beccy Speight said, “We are in the middle of a nature and climate crisis. The public and our natural world deserve better and our future resilience depends on it. If unamended, the Bill risks doing nothing but accelerating the catastrophic decline of our natural world to the detriment of everyone.”
The RSPB wishes to see these changes to the Bill:
- The Fund must ensure that the benefits for nature significantly outweigh harm caused by development.
- A commitment to set out a long-term vision; for where to prioritise growth in England, where to safeguard land for nature recovery (including our irreplaceable natural habitats like peatlands and ancient woodlands), and areas we’ll use for tackling the impacts of climate change.
- A legal duty to ensure all plans and planning decisions help to deliver the UK’s legally binding climate and nature targets.
Differing views
Earlier in March, senior executives representing 13 of the largest Tier 1 civil engineering firms signed an open letter urging MPs to back the Bill, as reported in New Civil Engineer. The companies were AtkinsRéalis, Balfour Beatty, Bam, Costain, Jacobs, Kier Group, Laing O’Rourke, Mace, Mott MacDonald, Skanska, Vinci Construction, VolkerWessels UK and WSP.
The letter said: “The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unlock growth, accelerate critical projects, and strengthen the UK’s competitiveness. The choices made now will determine whether the country seizes this moment – or lets it slip away.”
In January, Friends of the Earth senior nature campaigner Sienna Somers said: “The government’s proposed Nature Restoration Fund is a dangerous concession to developers, letting them pay to sidestep their legal responsibilities instead of genuinely protecting nature.
“We’re already one of the most nature-depleted countries globally, yet we’d be giving developers a license to destroy. Ministers must stop enabling the destruction of irreplaceable habitats and commit to real protections and serious investment – not corporate greenwashing.”