The government yesterday (on 8 May) tabled a new amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill which experts warn will further undermine environmental protections.
Introduced earlier this year, the flagship legislative proposal aims to expedite the planning process for new developments in England.
However, scores of environmental NGOs and public and parliamentary bodies – including the Office for Environmental Protection and the Environmental Audit Committee, have strongly cautioned that, in its current form, the Bill threatens to severely compromise environmental safeguards and could lead to significant, permanent biodiversity loss.
The latest amendment, introduced by Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook, seeks to delay the evaluation of conservation measures designed to compensate for the environmental impacts of development. These measures serve as the key benchmarks against which the government’s Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs) are assessed — known as the ‘overall improvement test’.
In response, experts have warned that such delays may result in considerable environmental harm before mitigation measures can take effect, potentially causing irreversible damage to wildlife and habitats across the country.
Commenting on the amendment, Jason Reeves, Head of Policy at the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM), said:
“This new amendment does nothing to strengthen the test of improvement, and in effect — actually delays the measure of the test 10 years into the future, whereas what we really need is for nature enhancements to be in place ahead of impacts — otherwise we will be running a nature deficit and exacerbating nature’s decline.
“CIEEM is pleased to see that the Government is open to amending the Bill. However, this will not allay concerns that the Government is putting development ahead of nature recovery, making a mockery of statements that the Bill is a win-win for development and nature.”
The Institute has also proposed a number of amendments to the Bill, which it asserts would significantly improve outcomes for nature without hindering development.
