Forty leading economists, former government advisors, and nature experts have written to MPs ahead of the opening of the Public Bill Committee today, to warn of the dangers of rushing Part III of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill into law. Part III proposes a ‘pay to pollute’ buy-out mechanism, allowing companies to pay money to Natural England in exchange for destroying vital protected sites and species.

If passed, the signatories say, Part III of the Bill would amount to an extraordinary roll-back of critical nature protections that have, until now, supported nature-positive development and growth in England for over 40 years. The Nature Levy would turbo-charge the destruction of species and habitats in England, while undermining the UK’s international reputation for pioneering high integrity, pro-growth nature markets. Worse still, introducing a Nature Levy of this kind will add cost and delays to planning and development, harming our economy rather than helping it.

Estelle Bailey, Chief Executive Officer at the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, a signatory to the letter, says:
"By pitting growth against nature, this Government is making a fundamental mistake. Nature is not a 'blocker' to growth, as the Prime Minister claims, but the very foundation on which our economy rests and depends. Destroy it, and everything collapses. The Planning & Infrastructure Bill threatens to strip protections from some of our most valuable sites and sever communities from green spaces. In its desperation to scapegoat the environment, the Government fails to recognise the golden growth opportunity that investing in green development offers. Nature and the economy are two sides of the same coin, and the Government is gambling with the inheritance of future generations."

Prof David Hill CBE, former Deputy Chairman of Natural England, another letter signatory, says:
“I cannot believe we have come to this position. Under the watch of previous governments, the debate had always been around how far we should progress to increase protection and funding for nature and green growth. Now, regressive laws are being quietly accelerated through Parliament with no public consultation, impact assessments or pilots. Part III of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill harms our economy, rather than helps it, and will deliver a profoundly unacceptable blow to our natural environment, which, unlike the economy, may never recover.”

Prof Dame E.J. Milner-Gulland who directs the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science at the University of Oxford, another signatory to the letter says:
“Over the last few years, the UK has presented itself as a leader in innovative approaches to nature recovery, and a champion of biodiversity at home and abroad, with much cross-party support. Although taking a strategic approach to recovering nature in the context of other priorities is important, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill is far too vague about how this would be done—and its “licence to trash” provisions go against the evidence and threaten to undo recent progress. Nature is not an obstacle to prosperity, it underpins it.”

Prof Sir Partha Dasgupta, author of the HM Treasury-commissioned Dasgupta Review on the economics of biodiversity, and a letter signatory, said:
“Part III of the Bill allows companies to ‘buy out’ of existing nature obligations while disapplying decades of nature laws. This profoundly undermines the core value and purpose of nature markets which is to halt and reverse the decline of nature, not accelerate it. Part III of the Bill will cause economic harm, by introducing overlapping and clashing nature laws, and slowing development with complex viability-based levy systems that critically undermine the investment case for nature in the UK. Part III should not be rushed into law without a full understanding of the impacts Part III will have to our economy, and the environment on which it depends.”

The letter, which is viewable here, calls for a pause to Part III of the Bill to allow for proper due process, has also been signed by Isabella Tree, author of award-winning Wilding—and fellow Knepp Estate conservationist, Sir Charlie Burrell—alongside Prof Sir John Lawton, author of Making space for nature (commissioned by Gordon Brown’s Labour Government in 2009).

The signatories also say that "rushed laws of this magnitude, passed without due process, impact assessments or pilots, will add friction, complexity and costs to the development process, while causing irreparable harm to our environment”.

MPs must, the signatories say, “fully understand the impacts of Part III of the Bill before it comes into law, as too much is at stake for our economy, and our natural environment on which it depends”.

Read the letter in full here