Threats to nature in Labour’s planning bill

Re your article (Planning bill ‘throws environmental protection to the wind’, say UK nature chiefs, 9 April), while Labour’s planning and infrastructure bill aims for 1.5m homes to spur economic growth, part 3 of the bill threatens both nature and delivery. The UK’s wildlife has declined 19% since 1970, with 16% of species at risk. Yet part 3’s environmental delivery plans allow developers to pay an unquantified levy for vague restoration, sidestepping the Environment Act’s principles of prevention and precaution, and risking irreversible harm to our iconic ecosystems such as chalk streams and woodlands. The bill’s “overall improvement test” rests on weak “likely” benefits outweighing harm, ignoring scientific evidence, bypassing existing safeguards and failing to guarantee delivery of biodiversity gains. This may court illegality under the Berne convention, while complex levies and surveys could delay the housebuilding we need and lead to a “cash to trash” system. Ministers promised a win-win for nature and development, but without amendments that ensure benefits precede harm and mandating “significant, measurable” gains – this is a loss for both. This isn’t obstructionism. It’s a plea for due process. MPs must pause part 3, consult widely and align this legislation with the spirit and substance of the Environment Act and the climate and nature bill. Housing is urgent, but it doesn’t need to happen at nature’s expense. Nature isn’t a “nice to have”, it’s all we have. Prof EJ Milner-Gulland Tasso Leventis professor of biodiversity, University of Oxford • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.