An amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill has been announced by Government to remove all statutory consultees from the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) pre-application process. See Planning reforms to slash a year off infrastructure delivery - GOV.UK.
The Wildlife Trusts believe this is bad news for both nature recovery, communities and for infrastructure delivery. Pre-application is intended to be the crucial stage when, informed by consultation with experts, potential problems with major infrastructure projects are revealed and solutions found. This is also the stage where nature protection and restoration can be built into the early stages of a project – avoiding harm to precious nature sites, protecting community greenspaces and reducing costly project-stopping trouble later on.
Matt Browne, head of public affairs at The Wildlife Trusts, says:
“The Government is proposing changes through the Planning Bill which would be disastrous for the natural world and undermine infrastructure delivery. Removing the opportunity for experts to improve proposals at an early stage could lead to badly designed infrastructure which harms precious natural areas and destroy communities’ much-loved green spaces.
“Having input and expertise early in the process is meant to nip project problems in the bud. Its removal will lead to badly planned, costly projects which run into trouble later on – causing economic damage to match the environmental harms.
“Only a month ago, Ministers claimed that the Bill would be a ‘win-win for nature and development’. The Government promised to protect nature, but this panicked misstep paves the way to a lose-lose-lose scenario, for nature, communities and infrastructure delivery.”
Two weeks ago, The Wildlife Trusts published a briefing following concerns about gaps in the Bill, urging the Government to ‘fill in the blanks’ to avoid the Planning & Infrastructure Bill undermining vital nature protections. Minsters are urged to accept essential additions – amendments – to avoid confusion and uncertainty across the development sector.
