The Wildlife Trusts are extremely relieved that the Lords have voted in favour of amendment 130, which calls for protected species and habitats to be out of scope for Environmental Delivery Plans – the framework that would otherwise allow developers to pay into a fund to replace lost habitats elsewhere. The vote was decisive – 260 peers voted for the amendment, and only 141 sided with the Government.
Joan Edwards OBE, director of policy and public affairs at The Wildlife Trusts, says:
“The House of Lords has considered the evidence and come to a clear conclusion – that the Planning & Infrastructure Bill’s measures will not deliver a win-win for nature & development if applied wholescale to protected wildlife and wild spaces. MPs must now also follow the evidence, and vote to keep Lords amendment 130, to stop the Bill risking huge damage to nature, with little to no benefit for housing delivery.
“This is a crucial test for Labour MPs and the Government. Will they listen to the growing consensus of where genuine win-wins can be found, or bulldoze ahead with a faulty approach that risks destroying the wildlife and the wild places people love?”
This victory against the most damaging aspect of the Bill joins an amendment to protect England’s precious chalk steams which Lords also voted in favour of earlier this week, marking a clear recognition of nature’s value to people and the economy within the House of Lords.
The Wildlife Trusts have continued to urge for revisions to the bill so that nature can coexist alongside the Government’s plans for growth, including a call to peers ahead of the debate: Nature charities call on peers to de-weaponise the Planning Bill | The Wildlife Trusts
MPs now need to seize this last chance to avoid harming nature through the Bill, and vote to retain this amendment. We're asking everybody to email their MP using our short form.