The EAC report is clear that nature must not be used as a ‘scapegoat’ for development issues, and it is time this false narrative was put to an end.  

While measures that threaten to damage nature persist within the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, and proposals to U-turn on Biodiversity Net Gain ambition remain on the table, the potential win-wins for people and nature - and for a resilient future economy - hang in the balance. 

Becky Pullinger, head of land use planning at The Wildlife Trusts, says:  
“The Environmental Audit Committee has hit the nail on the head: the Government must stop pretending nature is holding up development. Restoring nature alongside building new homes is not just a nice thing to do: it is essential for our own health, wellbeing and climate resilience.  

“For this to become a reality, Ministers must accept changes to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill which ensure that new planning processes avoid destroying legally protected wildlife and natural places. The full potential of Biodiversity Net Gain that requires new projects to improve biodiversity – leaving the natural environment in a measurably better state than before – can only be fully realised if exemptions are properly limited so nature and people flourish side by side.  

“The evidence shows that bats and newts were a factor in just 3% of planning appeal decisions in 2024, and so this false scapegoating of nature has to stop. Only then do we stand to reap the many benefits that nature brings to both our daily lives and the economy.”