Group fears bill does not go far enough

The ‘inherent value of our countryside is treated as practically zero’ in Government plans aimed at improving biodiversity, according to Henfield campaigners.

The Environment Bill, a piece of legislation currently making its way though Parliament, would mandate a ten per cent biodiversity net gain for all new developments in England except for ‘irreplaceable habitats’.

But members of the Campaign to Protect Rural Henfield (CPRH) have raised concerns about a number of shortcomings in the bill as currently drafted and the potential impact these will have on the future of the countryside.

They believe nature will be reduced by an algorithm to a single number ‘to be costed and traded on the housing market’ and suggest that not only do biodiversity measures need to take account of local context, such as connections between habitats, but also many benefits of nature are not directly linked to biodiversity at all.

A true assessment of environmental gain would present the individual benefits and losses, rather than being reduced to a single netted off figure, they added.

A statement from the campaigners said: “The impact on biodiversity alone is not an adequate measure of nature’s loss. Development can generate multiple harms. The beauty of our countryside, the health and leisure benefits of country walks, clean air, tranquillity and distant views, count for nothing in the algorithm.”

Also highlighted is the first study involving the use of the algorithm, which showed substantial gaps between policy goals and implementation, as some developers were meeting obligations just through scrub and grassland patches.

They are concerned that in practice the net gain algorithm could result in a tick-box approach that ignores local factors and undermines good decision making, especially given the lack of resources in some council planning departments.

The group concluded: “Protecting designated areas like national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty and irreplaceable habitat types, safeguards only a tiny fraction of our countryside. The time spans required for creating and establishing any woodland, mean that many semi-natural woodlands will in effect be irreplaceable. They are simply to become land available for development. The inherent value of our countryside is treated as zero.”

The Environment Bill is not due to be discussed in the House of Commons again until the next Parliamentary session.