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Housing developers will be able to build on once-protected green spaces without having to replace the loss of nature in the nearby area, the Guardian understands.
New nature areas, parks and community gardens created to offset the removal of green spaces to make way for housing developments may not even have to be in the same county, under the new planning and infrastructure bill, sources at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said on Thursday.
The planning and infrastructure bill, which is currently at committee stage, has provisions to allow developers to build on green spaces and remove nature from local areas, if they pay into a fund which will create habitats elsewhere. The aim is to streamline regulations for developers so they can speed up their projects and the Labour government can meet its target for delivering 1.5m new homes by the end of this parliament in 2029.
The poorest rural communities, who often live in areas badly served by public transport, may lose their access to green space under this bill, campaigners have said.
Ali Plummer, director of policy and advocacy at Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: “Leaving it on a wing and a prayer that loss of nature locally won’t be offset into potentially another county does not give the certainty and safeguards that local people and the local environment need.
“A third of communities around the country already have little or no access to nature locally, contributing to the likelihood of poorer mental and physical health.”
Parks in poorer parts of England are less likely to be protected against being built on than those in more affluent areas, and 2.8 million people in the UK live more than a 10-minute walk from a public park, garden or playing field.
Defra sources said ideally lost nature and green space would be as close as possible to where it used to be, but this would not always be feasible and there was no provision in the bill to ensure it would be recreated nearby.
Nature experts have said the bill is “one-sided” and could allow developers to ignore environmental protections, as well as creating a “cash to trash nature” system. This is because it allows developers to pay into a nature restoration fund rather than ensuring they protect wildlife on the site they are building on. The Guardian also recently reported that thousands of playing fields could be lost to housing if the bill goes ahead unamended.
Zack Polanski, deputy leader of the Green party, said: “We live in one of the most nature depleted countries in the world … It’s appalling that the government hasn’t thought through the consequences of destroying habitats as they’re so eager to please huge developers at all costs.
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“We have a housing crisis and desperately need homes. The government must ensure that communities, especially our poorest communities who are least likely to be well represented in this debate, have access to local green space.”
Plummer said: “Reduced local tree cover and other natural solutions also leaves communities less resilient to more extreme weather conditions as the climate changes. Urgent changes to the planning bill are needed to guarantee developments avoid harm wherever possible, guarantee local nature loss is more than compensated for locally, and ensure that the nature restoration fund follows the science on what will work for nature and neighbourhoods.”
Defra has been contacted for comment.
