Paul Steedman, CPRE Sussex: Let's work together to fight catastrophic plans for nature

West Sussex boasts an impressive array of habitats – from grazing marshes to coastal habitats and hedgerows. With spring upon us, these habitats are once again bursting into life. They remind us of the value nature brings to our daily lives, sustaining our economies, livelihoods and well-being.

Yet these habitats are under threat from the Government’s new Planning and Infrastructure Bill. The bill will potentially allow developers to ignore many onsite environmental issues and scrap onsite wildlife surveys.

Instead, developers will be asked to make financial payments into a nature restoration fund for ‘strategic actions’. The supposed motivation – allowing development to proceed more quickly. Large-scale actions for nature recovery are welcome in principle – but they should not means running roughshod over the wildlife already on a site.

At CPRE Sussex we refute the underlying assumption that protections provided by environmental laws must be either removed or weakened because they are obstacles to economic growth.

Research shows that laws protecting wildlife and habitats are not ‘growth blockers’ leading to the under delivery of housing and related infrastructure. Instead, delays are caused by developers wanting to increase the land’s value before selling it on and building out sites slowly to maintain high house prices. More than 1.4 million homes have been left unbuilt by developers since 2007 despite receiving planning permission.

Environmental laws provide much needed protection for at-risk wildlife and habitats of national and international importance. Only site-specific surveys can reveal the presence of protected priority species and habitats requiring protection under UK laws and international obligations.

There are around 80 protected species in Sussex, plus a further 500 species recognised as a priority for conservation.

They, and our rich diversity of habitats, need our protection. The Government’s plans also fail to consider the consequences for nature of permitting development on multiple sites. Given the huge and unprecedented housing targets imposed by the Government the cumulative impact on nature could be catastrophic.

In Sussex, the new annual Standard Method Local Housing Need (LHN) requirement is 14,705 – a 48% increase on the previous target. The enormity of this target is revealed when you consider that from 2021/22 to 2023/24 the average number of homes built across the historic county was 7,065.

All but one of the districts across Sussex have an increased housing requirement under the new requirements. Worthing, Chichester and Horsham look set to be most affected with targets increasing by 170%, 72% and 48% respectively.

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Government commitments to protect at least 30% of the UK’s land and sea for nature by 2030 are woefully off target. Less than 16% of Sussex is currently protected for its wildlife value.

Nature and its benefits are at risk. We must work together to fight these catastrophic plans for nature rather than just giving big developers everything they want.

Find out more about our action on planning reforms at: https://www.cpresussex.org.uk/what-we-care-about/what-gets-built-and-where/.