Key facts
- Over 100 conservationists, scientists, and businesses have signed a letter urging Andy Burnham to halt environmental delivery plans.
- These plans, introduced via the Planning and Infrastructure Act, allow developers to bypass environmental laws by paying a national nature levy.
- Critics argue the plans could allow developers to 'trash' nature for as little as £1 and reverse decades of biodiversity protections.
- A planning lawyer raised concerns that ministers could have unchecked power to set the price of environmental destruction.
- The regulations disapply protections derived from the EU habitats directive, potentially making environmental costs lower for UK developers than EU counterparts.
- The government maintains the plans will secure better environmental outcomes and actively restore habitats and species.
The UK government is facing significant opposition to its new environmental delivery plans (EDPs), which critics argue could allow developers to bypass crucial environmental laws for a minimal fee. A letter, signed by over 100 conservationists, scientists, celebrities, and businesses, has called on the incoming prime minister, Andy Burnham, to immediately halt the implementation of these plans.
The EDPs, introduced through the Planning and Infrastructure Act, permit developers to avoid adhering to certain environmental regulations by contributing to a national nature levy. Campaign groups have decried this as a 'cash to trash' system, warning that it could lead to the reversal of decades of biodiversity protections at a critical time for nature conservation. A recent intelligence report even highlighted the threat of global attacks on nature to UK national security and food supply.
Ahead of a House of Lords debate on the nature restoration levy regulations, a motion has been introduced urging the government to withdraw them. Alexa Culver, a planning lawyer, has expressed serious concerns that the regulations grant the secretary of state unchecked power to alter payment rates without consultation, potentially setting the price of environmental destruction as low as £1. She also noted the regulations are being 'rushed through' with remaining flaws that could be vulnerable to lobbying.
Furthermore, the plans disapply protections derived from the EU habitats directive, which could place UK developers at a competitive advantage over their European counterparts who must still comply fully. Environmentalists like Ben Goldsmith and Dale Vince have criticized the government's commitment to nature restoration, calling for it to be a central economic priority.
A government spokesperson defended the EDPs, stating that the current system for development and nature is not working and that the new plans will ensure better environmental outcomes, going beyond current legislation to actively restore and improve habitats and species.