Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Planning and Infrastructure Bill and how it may weaken nature conservation protection

November 2025 update: we emailed local MPs to urge them to support Amendment 130 to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill

On 4th November 2025 we emailed MPs local to the Forest to urge them to support Amendment 130 to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. This Amendment, recently voted in by the House of Lords, would mean protected species and habitats don’t qualify as suitable for development mitigation schemes termed “Environmental Delivery Plans” (EDPs). This is a lifeline for these species and habitats, otherwise vulnerable to developers who would otherwise merely be obliged to pay a Nature Restoration levy, which funds an EDP, for the damage they inflict. Epping Forest, being a protected habitat, would therefore be safeguarded by this Amendment.  

We expressed how concerned we are that the introduction of the EDP regime as outlined in Part 3 of the Bill could result in damage to Epping Forest itself, a site with the highest environmental protections as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) but also to wildlife and the countryside generally. 

Our key points: 

We stated that as originally drafted, Clause 55, through the creation of EDPs, could enable the destruction of, or damage to, valuable and irreplaceable habitats and sites providing the developer paid into a fund (the Nature Restoration levy) to compensate for damage to the environment.  The proposal is that this funding would be used to mitigate damage to a site or could be used to fund similar conservation or biodiversity initiatives or habitats elsewhere.   

We set out that we object to this proposal because: 

• There is no unambiguous provision in the Bill that currently protected sites such as Epping Forest would not be damaged by the introduction of the EDP regime.  We note various provisions requiring “overall improvement” but, despite tabling its own amendments, the Government has not given any guarantees in the Bill itself that damage to the most important and irreplaceable sites would not be permitted, or enabled, under this proposed legislation.  
• We do not believe that destruction of, or irreparable damage to, valuable and irreplaceable habitats and sites, including Epping Forest, can be compensated or the sites somehow replaced.  Epping Forest’s ecology and heritage is simply irreplaceable. 
• As currently described, the EDPs would be high level documents, lacking the detailed information normally found in ecological and other surveys and would not be required to identify all possible environmental damage.    The level of detail that should be in an EDP has not been explained. This means potential damage may be overlooked, even to protected sites such as Epping Forest. 
• We believe that we should not be moving away from the principle, which has been in place for many years, that developers should seek to avoid damaging the environment in the first instance.   This principle makes sense, and underpins all our work to protect and preserve the Forest – any new developments should start from the position of avoiding damaging the precious heritage and ecology of the Forest, rather than costing up how to compensate for damage. 

We set out that we believe the proposed Amendment 130 to Clause 55 “Environmental features, environmental impacts and conservation measures” is a practical measure which would provide a vital safeguard whilst allowing the Bill to proceed.  The Amendment would retain EDPs for where they are suited ie. more general landscape-wide factors such as nutrient neutrality or water quality, but would not be used for impacts resulting in damage to, or destruction of, protected sites such as Epping Forest, or where there are protected species.  

We reminded the local MPs that the Forest is, and has been, much loved, and indeed protected, by their constituents for generations. And that alongside being an important site for nature conservation, the Forest and its surrounding Green Belt provide much “Natural Capital” including carbon capture, health and wellbeing benefits and flood risk and temperature reduction.   

We therefore asked all the local MPs to support Amendment 130 to ensure that Epping Forest, visited and cherished by many of their constituents, remains properly protected. 

June 2025 update: Brief on Planning and Infrastructure Bill and how it may weaken nature conservation protection

Background

Members may be aware that the Government’s draft Planning and Infrastructure Bill has been considered by the House of Commons over the last few months. The Bill is one of the Government’s initiatives to enable more housing to be built in England. Part 3 of the Bill seeks to change how the impact of new housing and commercial developments on nature conservation sites, potentially including the Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation (SAC)/Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), is assessed and mitigated.

Under the existing regulations, developers need to conduct ecological surveys of proposed development sites to establish whether protected species or habitats are present and to consider what measures might mitigate the impact of the development. More broadly, developers, alongside Local Authorities, also need to consider the impact of developments on larger protected conservation sites such as Epping Forest. In the case of the Forest, this is focused on disturbance and damage from increased visitor numbers and damage from air pollution from vehicles.

What are the proposed changes?

The draft Bill proposes to change this with the aim of simplifying the system by introducing the “Environmental Delivery Plan” (EDP) regime. This will require the nature conservation regulator, Natural England, to identify, at a strategic level, protected species and habitats on a site, the measures required to mitigate the damage that would be caused by development, and to manage and monitor their implementation. Developers would simply pay a financial contribution into a “Nature Restoration Fund” from which the mitigation measures would be funded. The Government’s view is that this would reduce the bureaucracy and delay in considering planning approvals.

How this may weaken nature conservation, and what’s the implications may be in relation to Epping Forest?

This may sound reasonable, but there is a lack of detailed information on how the system would work in practice and how the safeguards we have now would not be weakened. The Government claims that current environmental protections would not be reduced and that the new system would require an overall improvement in biodiversity on a site, that is, the positive effects will have to outweigh the negative. However, without more information on how the EDPs would be drawn up, what information will be included, and to what level of detail, the Government’s claims cannot be checked.

The Trust is very concerned that the new system may weaken the nature conservation protection that it has taken decades to obtain and may undermine the protection of the Forest. The Forest is already facing huge pressures, which will increase as new developments are built, and therefore, existing protections must not be weakened. The majority of conservation organisations in England are also extremely concerned. Amendments to the Bill were requested that sought to ensure that protection is not reduced, but so far, the Government has not accepted them.

What’s next?

The Bill is now being considered by the House of the Lords. The Trust hopes that the Government will provide more detail on how the new system will work and introduce clauses into the Bill to address the concerns raised, and which will provide legally-binding commitments that nature protection will not be weakened.

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