The Planning and Infrastructure Bill was the most significant single piece of legislation brought before Parliament in 2025. Ministers presented it as a necessary reform to unlock development and modernise the planning system.
In practice, it marks a severe weakening of environmental protections at a moment when nature is already in deep crisis. According to the State of Nature report, one in six species in Great Britain, nearly 1,500 species, are now at risk of extinction. This Bill will shape land use and planning decisions for decades, which is precisely why it demands honest scrutiny grounded in evidence rather than political spin.
As a Green MP, I engaged constructively with the Bill throughout its passage. I supported amendments designed to improve outcomes for communities and to strengthen protections for nature and indeed strengthen the Bill as a whole.
While there were limited positive elements, the Government’s refusal to accept key amendments left the legislation fundamentally flawed. Most strikingly, it weakens or, in some cases, entirely removes safeguards for the environment without delivering clear or credible benefits for housing delivery. This failure is compounded by the absence of any binding target for social housing, undermining the Bill’s stated aims.
No responsibility to protect the environment
The most damaging aspects of the Act lie in its removal of long-standing environmental duties that guide public bodies’ decisions on land and infrastructure. These duties exist to ensure that development happens in appropriate locations and in ways that minimise harm to wildlife, habitats, and long-term ecological health. Under the new framework, authorities will be able to make far-reaching decisions without a binding obligation to consider environmental impacts fully. That is not modernisation. It is a retreat from responsibility.
Speed of building prioritised
Ministers have repeatedly claimed that weakening environmental protections is necessary to speed up housebuilding. Yet no credible evidence has been provided to support this argument. The main barriers to delivery are well known and include land banking and speculation, inadequate infrastructure investment, and a persistent failure over the years to build genuinely affordable and social housing.
Time and again, constituents tell me that they are seeing executive homes being built which are not affordable and that they are being priced out of being able to live in their own community. Rolling back protections for chalk streams, species, and vulnerable habitats will not address those challenges, but it will cause irreversible environmental damage.
Government ignored warnings of possible dangers to nature
Since my election, I have worked closely with environmental and wildlife organisations that bring decades of evidence and practical experience. Throughout the passage of this Bill, these organisations were clear that some of its most far-reaching measures would cause serious and lasting harm to nature. Alongside other Green MPs, I supported amendments to remove those provisions entirely, a position backed by many of the UK’s leading nature bodies. The Government chose to ignore those warnings and press ahead regardless.
The seriousness of that decision was underlined by the Office for Environmental Protection, which warned that the Bill represents a “regression in environmental protection”. This was not a marginal or technical objection. It was a clear signal from the body tasked with upholding environmental law that the legislation weakens existing safeguards. That warning should have prompted careful reflection. Instead, it was dismissed.
My duty was to vote against the Bill
After repeated attempts to improve the legislation, I voted against the Bill at Third Reading, the final opportunity for MPs to intervene. That vote reflected a simple principle. Protecting nature is not an optional extra or an administrative hurdle. It is a fundamental duty and essential for ensuring a healthy environment on which we all depend for the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.
I will continue to challenge the Government on the implementation of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and to fight for the reinstatement of the safeguards that have been stripped away. Sustainable development and environmental protection do not need to be competing objectives. This Bill chose to sacrifice one without securing the other, and that failure will be felt long after this Government is no longer in office.
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