Yesterday, the Prime Minister made passionate arguments in favour of planning reform to unlock economic growth – read his speech here. The UK Government aims to “streamline the approval process” – but if it does this at the expense of protecting the little nature we have left, it will create a future where our natural resources are yet more depleted, where biodiversity loss leads to ecosystem collapse and where the very infrastructure The Government wants to build is much more vulnerable to climate change.  

Starmer said “fixing the foundations is like finding damp on a wall, you can’t paint over it”. Well, trying to boost growth without restoring nature would be worse: bulldoze the foundations of your economy and the whole house falls down on top of you. No nature, no long-term growth. 

Restoring nature is critical for economic growth and public health. According to economic analysis, half of all economic activity is highly or moderately reliant on nature. Moreover, spending time in wildlife-rich nature is vital for people’s physical and mental health.  

The Prime Minister spoke about ending the “nonsense” and cited “the absurd spectacle of a £100m bat tunnel holding up the country’s single biggest infrastructure project”. But this is putting the cart before the horse. If he wants to end the glacial bureaucracy of expensive planning compensation schemes and ineffective mitigations, the answer is simple: as a mere 2% of the ancient woodland that vulnerable bats rely on survives today, the solution is to avoid building over these tiny fragments of special natural habitat in the first place. Compensation avoided, job done. 

A hands off approach to development risks shifting damage caused by unruly developers and the costs to consumers and the environment. Removing, rather than improving existing safeguards, could undermine vital protections for our rivers and wildlife, leaving our natural environment unprotected and unable to recover. Instead, improving and then enforcing legislation will allow nature to be restored and will also enable sustainable growth, including incentivising farmers and other land managers to build in nature-based solutions for climate adaptation.  

We welcome the Prime Minister’s vision of a state that “builds its capacity through partnership with charities... Rather than viewing itself as the only source of expertise.” He spoke about plans to let the British people “hold our feet to the fire.” In that spirit, given that protections for nature are being blamed for human decisions today, let us remind the Government of its own targets. 

The UK Government has committed to restoring 30% of land and sea by 2030 and to cleaning up UK waterways. Achieving these targets requires strong and well-resourced regulators and nature positive planning rules. Regulations not only help achieve the Environment Act’s targets but also attract investment from the private sector, driving sustainable growth. This will allow us to implement the international commitments and national targets that we are signed up to. 

The Prime Minister is right – we need urgency. But we also need wisdom and foresight. We will be watching closely and engaging positively to ensure that we have simple, strong regulation. This is the only route to cleaner waters, improved public health and a strong economy. 

Whether you like the evidence or not, ignoring the importance of nature in the planning system harms our economy, undermines our security and jeopardises the very growth the Government hopes to unlock.