The government\u2019s leading environmental adviser has said ministers are wrong to suggest nature is blocking development.<\/p>\n
Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England<\/a>, is to oversee a national nature restoration fund, paid into by developers, which will enable builders to sidestep environmental obligations at a particular site \u2013 even if it is a landscape protected for its wildlife.<\/p>\n Central to Labour\u2019s growth plan, the controversial planning and infrastructure bill cuts environmental regulations to fast-track the construction of 1.5m homes by the end of this parliament, according to three legal opinions.<\/p>\n The Guardian revealed this week that more than 5,000 of the most sensitive and protected habitats in England are at risk of destruction<\/a> because their protections will be weakened.<\/p>\n Both the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, have said publicly that they want to tear up red tape that allows nature \u2013 bats, newts and other wildlife \u2013 to be a blocker to development.<\/p>\n But Juniper, in an interview with the Guardian, said such claims coming out of central government were \u201cnot necessarily fully backed by evidence\u201d.<\/p>\n Juniper, who has been reappointed for an unprecedented third term at Natural England, the government\u2019s nature agency, said he had not spoken to either the prime minister or he chancellor about the new planning bill.<\/p>\n He said he and his team were working behind the scenes to ensure the law came with the required \u201cguardrails\u201d to ensure Britain met its legally binding targets for nature recovery<\/a>.<\/p>\n A national nature reserve in Kent. The prime minister said he wanted to tear up red tape that allowed nature to be a blocker to development. Photograph: Michel Charlton\/PA<\/p>\n Juniper, an influential environmentalist<\/a> who is a confidant of King Charles, insisted that \u201cnature underpins growth, so we\u2019ve got to grow nature in order to get economic growth\u201d.<\/p>\n Asked if Starmer and Reeves understood that, Juniper said: \u201cI haven\u2019t spoken to them, so I don\u2019t know, but there\u2019s a very strong evidence base that says that this is the reality. I report to the secretary of state for the environment [Steve Reed] and he very much does get it.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics of the bill have questioned the conflict of interest in giving Natural England new funds from developers while expecting the body to regulate their actions but Juniper said: \u201cThat really isn\u2019t the culture of the organisation. I\u2019ve never come across any example in Natural England where we\u2019re looking at securing more money because it will help Natural England.\u201d<\/p>\n But that could change if a future populist government appointed a housebuilder as chair of Natural England. Juniper said such dangers emphasised the importance of long-term legislation such as the Climate Change Act and ensuring \u201cthe baton of nature recovery gets carried across not only years but decades\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure the same kind of things will be raised in relation to the planning and infrastructure bill to make sure that we\u2019ve got certainty for the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if he is happy with the bill in its current form, Juniper said: \u201cWe\u2019ve got our specialists who are working with government to be able to get it as good as it can be in terms of the detail as well as the broad ambition, which we very much support. Parliament will scrutinise all of that. Ministers will make decisions about what they believe are the best choices and we\u2019ll see where we finish up.\u201d<\/p>\n Juniper outlined his view that neither nature nor Natural England are a \u201cblocker\u201d on economic growth, but an essential precondition for a thriving economy, at Trumpington Meadows<\/a> on the edge of his home city of Cambridge.<\/p>\n The housing estate was built on green belt, but arable fields were turned into wildflower meadows, which are now a nature reserve where garden warblers sing and grass snakes hide \u2013 a store for flood water and carbon, which is also enjoyed by local people.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s led to a really good outcome where you can see nature recovery linked to a housing development obviously not only of great benefit to the wildlife but also to the people who live here,\u201d said Juniper, who arrived at the estate on his battered bicycle. \u201cRather than just being constantly in tension \u2013 \u2018do we do development or do we have nature?\u2019 \u2013 we need more of both and this is the kind of approach that can deliver more of both.\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The planet’s most important stories. Get all the week’s environment news – the good, the bad and the essential<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Juniper was first appointed to Natural England in 2019 by the then environment secretary, Michael Gove, and has overseen major nature-positive measures in England including landscape recovery schemes<\/a> on farmland, biodiversity net gain<\/a> for new housing and a new \u201cKing\u2019s series<\/a>\u201d of national nature reserves.<\/p>\n Tony Juniper. Critics of the planning bill have questioned the conflict of interest in giving Natural England new funds from developers while expecting the body to regulate their actions. Photograph: Julian Eales\/Alamy<\/p>\n Research examining more than 17,000 planning appeals made last year found that newts or bats featured in just 3.3%<\/a>. \u201cNatural England is held up as a blocker to development not necessarily by government but in the newspapers sometimes and amongst some of the development community, but if you look at the reality of the position we object to fewer than 1% of planning applications every year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Under the planning bill, the nature restoration fund will give Natural England vital new resources. When Juniper was appointed, the agency was suffering from deep cuts after a decade of austerity<\/a> and one staffer asked him: \u201cHave you been brought in to close us down?\u201d Since then, Juniper has reinvigorated the agency, tripling its budget, but has had to make job cuts this year after a funding freeze \u2013 a real-terms cut.<\/p>\n Juniper argues the nature restoration fund will enable Natural England \u201cto take a large-scale view of the landscape, not just the nature that\u2019s affected where the houses have been built, but to look at the effects on the wider environment, including protected areas that might be quite far away\u201d. He said they had sought this approach to tackle \u201clandscape pressures\u201d such as river pollution and too many nutrients in sensitive meadows and wetlands \u201cfor years\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cMoving to much more strategic approaches whereby we can get our arms around these bigger landscape pressures, that\u2019s key,\u201d he said. \u201cThis represents a real opportunity but the detail has to be right including having a high level of certainty about will it work, a high level of ambition about what\u2019s aiming to be achieved and some sense that the resources will be available.\u201d<\/p>\n Doubts have also been cast on nature mitigation being carried out after a housing estate has been built, given that a study last year found that just 53% of nature mitigation measures obliged by planning permissions such as new trees, hedges and bird boxes actually appeared<\/a> on new housing estates. \u201cHaving the right kinds of safeguards is going to be important,\u201d said Juniper.<\/p>\n