Image description: The River Itchen, a chalk stream that runs through Hampshire, bordered by grassy banks and lined with trees. Image by Philip Enticknap.
The call for an amendment
A cross-party attempt to give chalk streams, a globally rare ecosystem, the strongest protections as irreplaceable habitats failed after all the Labour MPs on the parliamentary committee examining the draft law rejected an amendment containing the extra provision.
MPs were told there are only 200 chalk streams in the world, and England is home to 85% of them. Many are already in an extremely poor condition, suffering from pollution and over-abstraction, the removal of water, to serve developments. Only 37% of the streams meet ecological standards of “good”.
Ellie Chowns, a Green MP and member of the committee, highlighted the lack of national protections for chalk streams and put forward the amendment to the planning and infrastructure bill, which was supported by a group of cross-party MPs. The amendment sought to impose protections for all chalk streams, most of which stretch across planning authority boundaries, and to require officials to identify the measures to be taken to protect any identified chalk streams from pollution, abstraction, encroachment and other forms of environmental damage. It would also have imposed responsibilities on strategic planning authorities in relation to the protection and enhancement of chalk stream habitats.
Labour stand firm on Planning Bill
Labour MPs further rejected another amendment which sought to ensure that irreplaceable habitats could not be developed on and the harm offset by using the nature restoration fund. These habitats include ancient woodlands, blanket bogs and lowland fens.
Labour MPs said the bill was not the right place to create such protections. Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said the government was committed to restoring and improving chalk streams, however they “don’t believe it is necessary to include the provision in this legislation”.
Planning bill potentially breaches Brexit negotiations
The current planning bill has been labelled a licence to kill nature by economists and ecologists because it allows developers to pay into a nature restoration fund rather than follow current environmental obligations to protect rare habitats and species. A recently leaked EU report ‘warns reforms could be in breach of Brexit trade deal’. The measures could fall afoul of “non-regression” clauses signed by Boris Johnson, when the then-prime minister took Britain out of the bloc. Under the terms negotiated between the U.K. and EU after Brexit, both sides agreed not to weaken environmental protections in any way that might give them a trade or economic advantage. Estimates published this week by the U.K. government suggest the reforms could benefit the British economy by £7.5 billion over the coming decade. The report raises concerns about Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ habit of directly blaming bats and newts for blocking development – “a reference found in virtually every government interview and speech on the subject.” It notes “months of government rhetoric against ‘red tape’”, stating that Reeves, Keir Starmer, and other senior ministers have “specifically targeted environmental regulations, downplaying their effectiveness, if not ridiculing them.”
Politico reports the EU report was shared between the European Commission and EU member states last week. It made no recommendation about future steps for redress, noting the bill is still being discussed in parliamentary committees and may be subject to change.