Oxfordshire wildlife charity urges residents to oppose "damaging" Infrastructure Bill
Otters, newts, bats or butterflies are some of our common species at risk of losing their home, the charity says
A leading Oxfordshire conservation charity has issued a warning over new government legislation that could significantly weaken protections for wildlife across the UK.
The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) is calling on residents to write to their MPs, urging them to oppose the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which the Trust says threatens to reverse decades of environmental progress.
Matthew Stanton, Director of External Affairs and Landscape Recovery at BBOWT, described the proposed legislation as "the most damaging piece of legislation that our wildlife has faced in over a generation".
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, he said: "At the moment, developers need to first avoid harming precious species and habitats. But this piece of legislation completely reverses that and essentially means that instead of having to avoid harm to otters and bats and newts and water voles and dormice, developers can just build on their homes."
The bill, currently making its way through Parliament, would allow developers to bypass site-specific environmental assessments by paying into a newly established Nature Restoration Fund managed by Natural England.
The BBOWT argues this approach undermines vital protections for species and habitats by enabling habitat destruction without prior evaluation of ecological impact.
Mr Stanton said: "This piece of legislation actually is bad for developers as well.
"Lots of developers want to build good houses, they want to build good green spaces, they want to embed nature into their development so it's good for people and wildlife. But instead this piece of legislation requires them to, instead of spending that money they’d use on site, pay a levy to Natural England.
"So it's a lose-lose for developers and nature."
The Trust is also raising concerns about the broader implications of severing ties between development and local nature conservation.
The bill, it argues, not only removes responsibility from developers to protect onsite habitats but fails to guarantee that restoration efforts elsewhere will meet the specific ecological needs of displaced species.
The BBOWT further warns that the government’s approach prioritises short-term economic growth over long-term environmental and societal wellbeing.
Mr Stanton added: "They want to do as much development as possible to get as much short-term growth as possible, but long-term sustainable growth for our economy requires long-term sustainable growth in our natural environment as well."
Addressing these concerns, a Government spokesperson said: "We have inherited a failing system that has held up the building of homes and infrastructure, blocking economic growth but doing nothing for nature’s recovery. Communities and the environment deserve better than this broken status-quo.
"Our Planning and Infrastructure Bill will deliver a win-win for the economy and nature – introducing the Nature Restoration Fund to unblock the building of much-needed homes and infrastructure, funding large scale environmental improvements across whole communities, and introducing robust protections so that our new approach can only be used where it will create positive outcomes for the environment."