https://assets.publishing.service.g...oint_SoS_letter_to_eNGOs_on_Planning_Bill.pdf
Planning and Infrastructure Bill: Letter to Nature Conservation Organisations
To all those working in the environmental sector and who care for our natural environment.
This government was elected on a mandate to get Britain building again, alongside protecting
and improving the natural environment.
We have committed to building one and a half million new homes across the country over the
next five years to tackle our housing crisis and boost economic growth. We must also
accelerate infrastructure delivery to build the schools, transport links and green energy
infrastructure that will not only help to grow our economy and create new jobs right across
the country, but that will also materially improve people’s lives.
Alongside this, we were elected on a platform to deliver for nature, taking urgent action to meet
our Environment Act targets. We must protect, create, and improve spaces which increase
climate resilience and promote nature recovery on land and at sea, recognising that ensuring
positive outcomes for nature is fundamental to unlocking the housing and infrastructure this
country urgently needs.
Nature recovery remains a top priority alongside the need to overhaul the planning system,
grow the economy, and reach net zero. This is not a matter of choosing one of these priorities
over another. Sustained economic growth depends upon a healthy natural environment.
When it comes to the planning system’s role in providing the nature and housing we need, we
know that the status quo is not working. Environmental assessments and case-by-case
negotiations of mitigation and compensation measures often slow down the delivery of much-
need housing and infrastructure. Meanwhile, the condition of our environment, and even our
most important habitats and species, has declined over a sustained period. This is a lose-lose
situation, for our economy, the public and for the natural environment.
So instead, we are determined to transform the system to ensure a win-win for housebuilding
and nature. We want to use the value gained from enabling development to proceed quickly
and smoothly to support nature recovery – and to do so in a way that gives everyone involved
greater certainty. And we will only legislate if we are confident that it achieves these outcomes.
Our vision for an improved planning system will require government to work in partnership with
civil society, communities and business. Most importantly, we recognise that we are only likely
to the right answer by working closely with you – organisations with longstanding experience
of what it takes to improve environmental outcomes on the ground. That is why we have sought
to engage with you immediately with a view to ensuring a constructive dialogue over the coming
months as to the best way forward.
We therefore look forward to working with you over the coming weeks, in a spirit of
partnership that we hope will mark a change from the past fourteen years. Thank you for your
support in delivering the strong economy and environment this country needs and deserves.
Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP
Steve Reed OBE MP
Planning and Infrastructure Bill: Letter to Nature Conservation Organisations
To all those working in the environmental sector and who care for our natural environment.
This government was elected on a mandate to get Britain building again, alongside protecting
and improving the natural environment.
We have committed to building one and a half million new homes across the country over the
next five years to tackle our housing crisis and boost economic growth. We must also
accelerate infrastructure delivery to build the schools, transport links and green energy
infrastructure that will not only help to grow our economy and create new jobs right across
the country, but that will also materially improve people’s lives.
Alongside this, we were elected on a platform to deliver for nature, taking urgent action to meet
our Environment Act targets. We must protect, create, and improve spaces which increase
climate resilience and promote nature recovery on land and at sea, recognising that ensuring
positive outcomes for nature is fundamental to unlocking the housing and infrastructure this
country urgently needs.
Nature recovery remains a top priority alongside the need to overhaul the planning system,
grow the economy, and reach net zero. This is not a matter of choosing one of these priorities
over another. Sustained economic growth depends upon a healthy natural environment.
When it comes to the planning system’s role in providing the nature and housing we need, we
know that the status quo is not working. Environmental assessments and case-by-case
negotiations of mitigation and compensation measures often slow down the delivery of much-
need housing and infrastructure. Meanwhile, the condition of our environment, and even our
most important habitats and species, has declined over a sustained period. This is a lose-lose
situation, for our economy, the public and for the natural environment.
So instead, we are determined to transform the system to ensure a win-win for housebuilding
and nature. We want to use the value gained from enabling development to proceed quickly
and smoothly to support nature recovery – and to do so in a way that gives everyone involved
greater certainty. And we will only legislate if we are confident that it achieves these outcomes.
Our vision for an improved planning system will require government to work in partnership with
civil society, communities and business. Most importantly, we recognise that we are only likely
to the right answer by working closely with you – organisations with longstanding experience
of what it takes to improve environmental outcomes on the ground. That is why we have sought
to engage with you immediately with a view to ensuring a constructive dialogue over the coming
months as to the best way forward.
We therefore look forward to working with you over the coming weeks, in a spirit of
partnership that we hope will mark a change from the past fourteen years. Thank you for your
support in delivering the strong economy and environment this country needs and deserves.
Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP
Steve Reed OBE MP
