A major government proposal has been described as “one of the biggest threats to nature laws in over a generation,” according to a leading charity.

The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) is urging people to contact their MPs about the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

While the government claims the bill will accelerate construction and improve infrastructure, BBOWT warns it would allow developers to bypass environmental regulations if they contribute to a new fund.

A government spokesperson stated that the bill, now at the Committee stage in the House of Commons, would “deliver a win-win for the economy and nature.”

BBOWT criticised the proposed Nature Restoration Fund, overseen by Natural England, calling it an “attempt to cover its tracks” over likely environmental damage.

“Our natural world underpins every element of our economy, and if we want long-term sustainable growth, we must invest in nature,” Estelle Bailey, its chief executive, said.

“We know that a thriving economy depends on a thriving natural world, but Keir Starmer is bizarrely pushing a false choice between protecting nature and building homes.

“This is an unnecessary and divisive rhetoric – the two can and must be considered together.”

Meanwhile, Labour has pledged to build 1.5 million new homes in England over the next five years to drive economic growth.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner emphasised in February that there would be “no excuses” for missing the 2029 housing target.

The government spokesperson said: “We have inherited a failing system that has held up the building of homes and infrastructure, blocking economic growth but doing nothing for nature’s recovery.

“Communities and the environment deserve better than this broken status-quo.

“Our Planning and Infrastructure Bill will deliver a win-win for the economy and nature – introducing the Nature Restoration Fund to unblock the building of much-needed homes and infrastructure, funding large scale environmental improvements across whole communities, and introducing robust protections so that our new approach can only be used where it will create positive outcomes for the environment.”

 

 

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At Natural World Fund, we are passionate about restoring habitats in the UK to halt the decline in our wildlife.

 

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