I was disappointed to read George Monbiot’s deeply misleading column on the planning and infrastructure bill and proposals for a nature restoration fund (Labour’s great nature sellout is the worst attack on England’s ecosystems I’ve seen in my lifetime, 24 April).
We need more housing, energy, and transport links, and more nature. The bill seeks to deliver all of these things, but faster than we do now. The bill does not repeal habitat or species protections or give a licence to do harm. Rather, it creates an alternative mechanism for conservation measures to be agreed and funded more quickly and strategically than at present.
Under the new model, developers will have to contribute to a nature restoration fund, which will invest in the protection and recovery of habitats and species impacted by development. Our nature regulator, Natural England, must ensure there is a net benefit to nature, and plans will require ecological surveys to make sure this happens.
The planning and infrastructure bill is a win-win, for people and for nature recovery.
Mary Creagh MP
Nature minister
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