Despite calls from ecologists, developers and the public that nature is not a blocker to housebuilding, we’ve continued to see headlines quoting Rachel Reeves decrying nature protections as a barrier to economic growth. Bats, spiders and even snails have been cited as holding up development.
This viewpoint, held dearly by a few lobbyists and politicians in Westminster, fails to survive contact with real world evidence.
Analysis after analysis has shown that nature is at the heart of our economy.
From the often quoted Dasgupta Review to recent research by environmental economics consultancy eftec, commissioned by The Wildlife Trusts, we have the evidence that nature has significant economic value.
The eftec research showed that the habitat creation and restoration opportunities of a well-functioning Biodiversity Net Gain market would support a total of £250 million in economic activity and over 2,450 full time jobs each year.
What about the suggestion that nature gets in the way of parts of the economy? Here, the evidence is very weak. The UK Government itself has noted that “There is very limited data on how environmental obligations affect development”.
Indeed, the evidence that is accumulating shows environmental issues are unimportant in the list of challenges within the planning and development system. For example:
- Our research found that bats and newts were a relevant factor in just 3% of planning appeal decisions.
- In a survey of local councillors, environmental issues came 20th out of a list of 24, cited by just 3% of respondents, when asked about why the Government’s plans to build 1.5 million new homes are seen as unachievable.
The myths being promoted by the Treasury about delays to the planning system are nothing new. A review exploring the “serial accusations” of delay in the planning system found that any cause of delay to the planning system had been used to justify market-led reforms that ultimately failed to recognise the “perspectives of developers …[that] highlight that time taken or ‘delay’ is not seen as the main issue at stake, but rather the level of (un)certainty for private sector actors”.
So, what can be done to increase certainty, and help speed up the planning system so that it delivers for local communities and for wildlife?
Resources are the main barrier to delivering on the UK Government’s objective
Planners, ecologists, construction workers and beyond are essential to an effective planning system and the delivery of new development.
But, time after time, research has identified that resources are the main barrier to delivering on the Government’s objectives.
- A survey of 500 councillors published in June asked those at the frontline of planning what they felt the biggest barriers to national housing delivery to be. The most cited reason was skills shortages in the housebuilding sector (33%). This is backed up by an assessment from the Housebuilders Federation – as covered in our recent blog post.
- Research undertaken by the Office for Environmental Protection identified that access to expertise was a root cause of some of the challenges identified in the system of environmental assessment. Ultimately, the OEP concluded that without addressing the root causes, any reform to the system would likely not succeed as intended.
And yet, recent changes to apprenticeship rules could reduce the number of new planners entering the system and the constant blaming of the planning system does little to boost moral of those working in local councils.
The Wildlife Trusts have worked for many years to ensure new development works alongside nature recovery. We know that the elusive win-win is possible.
The next question will be how much more evidence do we need to bust the myth that nature protections are a blocker to achieving this?
Read our briefing on the Planning Bill Lords committee stage amendments.