[4-minute read]

Suffolk Wildlife Trust welcomes proposed changes to The Government’s Planning & Infrastructure Bill that are essential for nature, including two amendments tabled by Suffolk Coastal Labour MP Jenny Riddell-Carpenter that would require developments to install and maintain wildlife-friendly features such as bird and bat boxes, swift bricks, and hedgehog highways, and limit the use of artificial grass in landscaping for new developments.

Amendments to improve the bill for nature have also been supported by Green Party MP Adrian Ramsay, whose Waveney Valley constituency covers parts of north Suffolk and south Norfolk.

The Bill is intended to speed up the planning process to increase housebuilding and infrastructure development – including energy infrastructure to achieve Government net-zero targets – at the same time as delivering positive outcomes for the natural environment and wildlife through a new ‘Nature Restoration Fund’ and ‘Environmental Delivery Plans.’

However, Suffolk Wildlife Trust is concerned that the current form of the Bill removes vital protections for nature, allowing development to go ahead without avoiding harm to the environment or providing evidence that 'Environmental Delivery Plans' would actually deliver effective environmental improvements.

The Trust is urging the Government to follow recommendations from The Wildlife Trust - and advice from the Office for Environmental Protections - to accept proposed amendments to strengthen safeguards for nature.
 

Suffolk Wildlife Trust CEO - Christine Luxton - said: “We fully support the changes to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill Jenny Riddell-Carpenter and other MPs from across the political spectrum are asking for to add essential safeguards for nature and deliver more wildlife in new developments through the provision of things like bat and bird boxes, swift bricks, and hedgehog highways.

“Nature is not just a ‘nice-to-have’ – it is the source of the food we eat and water we drink, and having more of it makes the places where we live and work healthier and happier places to be. We need development to protect nature in the first instance but also help to bring back the wildlife we have lost in the last 50 years. If we get it right, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill gives us a chance to do that – but if we get it wrong, the results could be disastrous for nature.”

“We’re very worried that without these changes to ensure nature is protected and development delivers meaningful environmental improvements, this legislation could put more vulnerable wildlife at risk of being lost with little prospect of being able to get it back in the future.”
 

Have your say: Sign the open letter

Suffolk Wildlife Trust is asking nature-lovers to sign an open letter to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner MP - Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government - asking The Government to accept the proposed amendments being supported by The Wildlife Trusts.

Sign the letter

Read more about what the Bill could mean for nature