Groups call for loopholes to be closed

CONSERVATIONISTS have accused the Government of weakening rules to make developers pay to boost nature, hitting jobs and private investment in restoring wildlife.

- EMILY BEAMENT [e-mail]

New exemptions for England's "biodiversity net gain" (BNG) rules risk hollowing out the emerging market in which developers have to pay not only to replace habitat lost to development, but to deliver a 10% gain for nature, they warn.

The Wildlife and Countryside Link (WCL) coalition of environment and nature groups called for swift action to close loopholes which they say are already seeing more than four-fifths of developments claiming exemption from the rules.

Backers of BNG have called it a world-leading market for driving badly needed private investment into nature restoration, which they say underpins the economy, food production and vital services such as water and flood prevention and is needed to meet legal targets to reverse wildlife declines.

But the Government has repeatedly targeted bats, newts, snails and other wildlife as it outlines measures to unblock the planning system and speed up building.

Under biodiversity net gain reforms unveiled yesterday as part of planning reforms to speed up the building of new homes and infrastructure, smaller developments under 0.2 hectares will be exempt from the rules, with additional targeted exemption for brownfield housing sites.