New UK Planning & Infrastructure Bill Gives Government Power To Destroy Wildlife & Countryside

The New UK Planning And Infrastructure Bill & The Ramifications

The Caavakushi team have noticed a shocking lack of public awareness regarding the potentially devastating impacts of the new UK Planning and Infrastructure Bill. While we are all acutely aware of the housing crisis and the need for new development, we must ask ourselves: should progress come at the cost of our already beleaguered native wildlife? From our passionate vegan standpoint, the answer must be a resounding no. Yet, this new legislation appears designed to trade irreplaceable habitats for a quick cash payment.

The Threat To Nature (Cash To Trash)

The core of the controversy lies in Part 3 of the Bill, which introduces the new system of Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs) and the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF), funded by a levy on developers. On the surface, the concept sounds promising: strategic, landscape-scale nature recovery. However, in practice, the Caavakushi team agrees with leading environmental experts who have publicly slammed this mechanism as “cash to trash.”
Under existing environmental laws, like the Habitats Regulations and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, developers were required to implement site-specific mitigation strategies, with a clear hierarchy: first, avoid harm, then mitigate it. The UK Planning and Infrastructure Bill, in its current form, essentially allows developers to bypass this crucial process and pay a one-off levy into the NRF instead. This money is then used for conservation projects elsewhere, often miles away from the initial destruction.

Protected Species Are Not Interchangeable

For those of us who believe in the intrinsic worth of every animal, this is an unacceptable infringement on animal rights. The assumption that damage to one protected habitat can simply be ‘offset’ by funding a new habitat far away ignores decades of established ecological principles.
As conservation groups have pointed out, species are incredibly site-faithful. Protected animals like bats, badgers, hedgehogs, and dormice rely on specific, long-term territories and maternity roosts. Destroying a local badger sett and simply putting money into a fund to build a wetland elsewhere is not conservation; it is local extinction. The Caavakushi team notes that there is no scientific or ecological evidence to suggest this kind of offsetting is effective for rare and protected species. One expert quote confirms this, stating that the Government’s plan “lacks scientific and ecological credibility.”

The UK’s Nature Crisis (We Cannot Afford Regression)

The gravity of this situation cannot be overstated, especially when considering the dire state of British wildlife. The UK is tragically described as “one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth.” The most recent State of Nature report shows terrifying statistics: the abundance of species studied has declined by an average of 19% since 1970. Furthermore, the distributions of pollinators, such as bees, hoverflies, and moths—essential to our entire food ecosystem—have decreased by an average of 18%.
At a time when the government is legally bound to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030, this Bill threatens to push nature into a freefall. The Office for Environmental Protection itself stated that the Bill would be a “regression” of environmental protections, removing vital safeguards.

Public Rights And Democratic Outrage

Beyond animal rights, this Bill threatens public rights and local democracy. The Bill aims to streamline planning applications for major projects, often by reducing opportunities for local community voices to be heard and by limiting the scope for judicial review—the critical accountability mechanism for correcting legal errors.
The Caavakushi team is outraged that a measure with such profound environmental implications has slipped through Parliament with limited public disclosure. We are not alone: research shows that the concept of “cash to trash” is staunchly opposed across the political spectrum, with 77% of Conservative voters and 79% of Labour voters opposing the idea of allowing developers to avoid ecological mitigation by paying a levy. The vast majority of the public, 70% of voters, say that compensating for local damage somewhere else is unacceptable. Voters place a high, non-negotiable value on protecting nature in their own communities.

Our Call To Action

While the Government has made small concessions, strengthening the language and promising certain safeguards after immense pressure from Peers and NGOs, fundamental flaws remain. The crucial Lords amendments, such as the one restricting the application of Part 3 in sensitive wildlife areas, must be supported by MPs to prevent the NRF from becoming the “Nature Removal Fund.”
We, as a passionate vegan community, must not let this Bill pass silently. We have a shared responsibility to be the voice for those who cannot speak, including the badger, the dormouse, and the irreplaceable ancient woodland. The cost of ‘progress’ cannot be the extinction of our co-inhabitants.

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