12 December 2024
Responding to the release of the Government's National Planning Policy Framework today, and the measures on releasing large areas of greenbelt for development, Richard Benwell CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said:
"Any sacrifice of green belt protection should be approached with great care. We need a plan-led approach to any release that doesn't open the door to speculative development. Local Wildlife Sites, irreplaceable habitat & Local Nature Recovery Strategy priorities should all be off the table. In a nature crisis, the Government should take as bold an approach to extending protection for important wildlife sites and access to nature as it does for earmarking land for development".
Nature is not a blocker of development, but with such a high level of nature loss in the UK, putting environmental protection high-up in the planning process is crucial to nature recovery.
Important nature sites in the green belt must be completely off the table, and any other sites to be released from development must be ecologically assessed early on in the process to rule out harm to irreplaceable nature. Loss of green belt sites should also be matched by increases in nature-rich habitat elsewhere.
Also vital to nature protection is environmental recovery measures being included in forthcoming planning legislation. We need a planning system that doesn't just mitigate harm to wildlife but actively contributes to restoring it.
ENDS
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