Natural England Ministers 'wrong to see nature as obstacle to new housing'

The government's leading environmental adviser has said ministers are wrong to suggest nature is blocking development.

- Patrick Barkham

The government's environmental leading adviser T has said ministers are wrong to suggest nature is blocking development.

Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England, is to oversee a national nature restoration fund, paid into by developers, which will enable builders to sidestep environmental obligations at a particular site even if it is a landscape protected for its wildlife.

Central to Labour's growth plan, the planning and infrastructure bill cuts environmental rules to fast-track the building of 1.5m homes by the end of this parliament.

The Guardian revealed this week that more than 5,000 sensitive and protected habitats in England are at risk of destruction because protections will be weakened.

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves say they want to tear up red tape that allows nature-bats, newts and other wildlife - to be a blocker to development. But Juniper, in an interview with the Guardian, said such claims were "not necessarily fully backed by evidence".

Juniper, who has been reappointed for an unprecedented third term at Natural England, the government's nature agency, said he had not spoken to either the prime minister or chancellor about the new planning bill. He said he and his team were working behind the scenes to ensure the law came with "guardrails" to ensure Britain met its legally binding targets for nature recovery.