Planning & Infrastructure Bill

Economic growth and nature recovery can be achieved together - it doesn't have to be "development vs nature".

The new Planning & Infrastructure Bill – currently making its way through Parliament – aims to ‘get Britain building’ and provides ‘a win-win for development and for nature’ according to the Government. There are some good parts of the Bill – like a commitment to "delivering overall improvements for nature" – however there is a real risk that fast-tracked development could come at the cost of our natural environment. 

What Suffolk Wildlife Trust is doing  

We have been meeting with Suffolk's MPs to encourage them to listen to nature and to request changes to the Bill in Parliament. We are also working closely with our fellow nature and enviornment charities in East Anglia, and The Wildlife Trusts federation, to campaign for the Government to make small changes that would protect nature whilst also delivering economic growth.

25 June - Planning & Infrastructure Bill debated in House of Lords. Analysis coming soon.

10 June - The Wildlife Trsuts call out inaccuracies in Commons debate. During the Commons Report stage of the Planning Bill, the Minister and some MPs made incorrect statements about the relationship between nature protections and housing provision, and the impact of the Bill on those protections. Read the full analysis.

9 June - Amends to Bill rejected in the Commons. A series of amendmends to Bill - including those proposed by Jenny Riddell-Carptener to protect nature - were debated and voted against in the House of Commons. 

8 June - 25,000 nature-lovers email their MPs, including over 1,000 from Suffolk - thank you! We hope this will put pressure on MPs to challegne Labour's party-line ahead of Bill amendments being voted on.

3 June - CEOs of Suffolk Wildlife Trust and Norfolk Wildlife Trust meet MPs in Wesminster. We had some excellent discusions with Jess Asato (Lowestoft MP), Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Suffolk Coastal MP), and Ben Goldborough (South Norfolk MP) - and were pleased that Suffolk MPs wanted to hear our concerns for nature. The feedback from them was that they didn’t fully understand the Bill’s risk to nature; highlighting the importance for us as Wildlife Trusts to continue to analyse the Bill and keep them MPs informed- plus why it’s critical that everyone emails their MP.

23 May - New evidence shows nature does not block growth. A new report published - based on research by Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Wilder Ecology consultancy - reveals only 3% of planning decision have been blocked by bats and great crested newts is blocked by nature. This evidence that nature does not block growth is published as the Planning & Infrastructure Bill reached a critical stage when the Committee discussion of the Bill ended.

20 May - Open letter handed to Government. The Wildlife Trusts handed in their open letter to Westminster, urging the Government to listen to evidence and amend the Bill for nature. A huge thank you to the 542 members and supports from Suffolk who signed the open letter!