England’s poorest communities face deepest cuts to green space under planning law changes, report finds
Summary
A report finds that planned changes to England’s green space rules will reduce nature access for the poorest communities. These changes remove requirements for new housing developments to increase natural areas on small and brownfield sites, which mostly affects deprived neighborhoods.Key Facts
- Over 7.4 million people in England live in places with no nearby biodiversity, including 1.42 million children under 15.
- New rules introduced in 2024 require most developments to increase biodiversity by 10%, aiming to help nature recover.
- The government proposed exemptions for small sites under 0.2 hectares and brownfield sites up to 2.5 hectares that would not need to meet biodiversity gain rules.
- About 82% of planning applications in the poorest areas are for small sites under 0.2 hectares.
- The exemption for small sites could cause a loss of nature equal to nearly 11,000 mature trees or 400 football fields of wildflower meadows each year.
- Four times more potential homes on brownfield land are in the poorest 20% of areas versus the richest 20%.
- Poor communities already have far less access to nature, and the exemptions will worsen this gap.
- Environmental groups urge the government to remove these exemptions and protect biodiversity gains legally for at least five years.
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