The government’s planning and infrastructure bill, which aims to relax environmental rules to build 1.5 million homes, has been shaped by extensive lobbying from developers while professional ecologists have been denied meetings with ministers, the Guardian can reveal.
The Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) requested a meeting with ministers early on but was initially turned down; a later request in July led to a meeting with civil servants in the autumn, but no face-to-face meeting with a minister has occurred, according to chief executive Sally Hayns.
In contrast, Chancellor Rachel Reeves hosted high-level talks with housebuilders Berkeley, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey within a week of taking office, and has continued a series of meetings with housing developers, Treasury records show. Housing minister Matthew Pennycook recorded 16 meetings with property developers up to May this year, and only four with nature groups in the past year.
Peers have secured a key amendment, tabled by Baroness Katherine Willis, to protect species such as dormice and nightingales, and habitats like ancient woodlands. Willis called it a “win-win amendment” that would protect nature while helping developers, and urged MPs to back it next week. However, the government has whipped its MPs against previous amendments and suspended a Labour MP for speaking out for nature.
One developer, Vistry, building 1,200 homes near Newton Abbot in Devon, sent bulldozers within feet of a 2,000-year-old protected ancient wetland last month. The company has sought to lift planning conditions protecting the site, stating it is in contact with Labour housing ministry officials.
