More than 5,000 of England’s rarest and most sensitive natural habitats could be exposed to irreversible damage under Labour’s new planning and infrastructure bill, according to multiple legal analyses. The bill, designed to facilitate the construction of 1.5 million homes and expedite 150 major infrastructure projects, is being sharply criticised by environmental groups and legal experts for what they describe as a significant rollback of environmental protections.
Critics say the legislation, which is central to Labour’s economic growth strategy, allows developers to bypass existing safeguards for nature reserves, ancient woodlands, and internationally protected wetlands. Areas at immediate risk include the New Forest, the Surrey Heaths, the Peak District moors, and the Itchen and Wensum rivers — habitats for otters, nightingales, kingfishers, butterflies, and other endangered wildlife.
Legal Experts Say Environmental Safeguards Will Be “Disregarded”
A legal opinion by Alex Goodman KC warns that the bill would require planning authorities to disregard damage to sites currently protected under UK and international law, including Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Ramsar wetlands, and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). He called it a “very significant change” that effectively removes the core legal protections these areas depend on.
Glenys Stacey, Chair of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), confirmed that the bill, as drafted, represents a “regression” in environmental law. Despite government assurances that protections remain in place, the OEP has warned that key provisions in Part Three of the bill permit developments to go ahead by paying into a “nature restoration fund” — a mechanism critics describe as “cash to trash.”
Nature Charities and MPs Call for Withdrawal of Controversial Clause
Conservation groups, including Wild Justice, are demanding the removal of this clause. Dr Ruth Tingay of Wild Justice compared it to destroying a national treasure like the Royal Albert Hall and replacing it with karaoke booths, calling the approach “brutal and illogical.”
Green MP Ellie Chowns called for urgent legal scrutiny, saying the bill “weakens protections for irreplaceable habitats such as chalk streams, peat bogs and ancient woodlands” — describing them as “jewels in the crown” of the UK’s biodiversity.
Government Denies Rollback, Insists on “Win-Win” Approach
A government spokesperson rejected the claims, insisting the reforms aim to balance environmental improvement with housing and infrastructure growth. They argued the current system is “failing” both nature and economic development and that the new framework will unlock progress while supporting environmental recovery.
However, campaigners and environmental lawyers continue to warn that the bill, in its current form, would set a dangerous precedent and undermine decades of hard-won legal protections for England’s most precious natural sites.
