Last week, MPs rejected Amendment 40 (formerly Amendment 130) - a change that would have ensured stronger, evidence-based safeguards for wildlife and protected sites.
This is a big setback for nature in Cornwall.
The Bill now heads back to the House of Lords, where there is still a chance to put vital protections back in place.
Please write to your MP again. Urge them to support these nature-friendly amendments.
Dormouse in a hand. Image by Laura Snell
Ask your MP to keep Amendment 40 (formerly 130). This amendment maintains protections for wildlife and wild spaces.
The Government's Planning and Infrastructure Bill threatens to weaken protections for Cornwall's wildlife. At a time when nature is in crisis, it could allow developers to pay their way around key environmental laws, putting vital habitats at risk and ignoring local voices. Simply put: this Bill could roll back decades of progress. And that's why we need your support.
Those working across the environmental sector have warned the bill could have serious consequences for nature by creating a "pay if you harm" system, rather than requiring nature to be protected first. With the introduction of a Nature Restoration Fund, developers would pay a levy into this fund instead of doing ecological surveys or onsite mitigation.
Amendment 40 (previously Amendment 130), is important because it stops the Government using the new planning rules to brush aside proper checks on wildlife. It stipulates that the new rules should only be used in very specific situations, such as water quality, not where building work could directly harm protected species or special habitats.
We support this amendment because wildlife can’t simply be replaced if it’s damaged or destroyed. Amendment 40 ensures that Cornwall’s most vulnerable species and places will get the strong, site-by-site protection they need.
Last week, MPs voted against this amendment.
Among Cornwall’s six MPs:
Two supported stronger nature protections (by voting for Amendment 40).
Two voted against.
Two did not record a vote.
In email replies sent to those who had contacted their MPs, some Cornish Labour MPs reiterated the party line, that Amendment 40 would create legal uncertainty and procedural delays in the planning system. They supported the Bill’s existing “overall improvement test” for Environmental Delivery Plans, which they insist provides robust environmental protection while allowing flexibility for nature recovery at scale.
This claim is strongly disputed by environmental charities, ecologists, and planning professionals, including the Wildlife Trusts.
Government messaging has increasingly framed species like bats and newts as “blockers” to housing growth. But the evidence tells a different story. The Environmental Audit Committee’s new report found that nature is not a barrier to housing delivery. Planning delays are caused by systemic issues, not wildlife.
By focusing on a few species, this narrative has repeatedly ignored the bigger picture: healthy ecosystems underpin sustainable development, and are vital to resilient neighbourhoods.
There’s a real danger that mitigation becomes transactional:paying into the fund doesn’t guarantee nature is restored locally or to the same quality.
Cornwall is home to some of the UK’s most distinctive landscapes and rare species. From windswept coastal heathlands to ancient woodlands and peat bogs, these habitats support wildlife that the public cares deeply about, not just bats and newts but also hedgehogs, dormice, and pollinators.
Without robust protections and baseline surveys, developments could destroy habitats that cannot simply be recreated elsewhere, leading to habitat and species loss that can’t be undone. Looser rules could lead to developments which break up, disturb, or destroy key ecological corridors in Cornwall.
In our recent roundtable with local developers and MPs, no developers said nature was the biggest blocker to development. They raised other issues, including labour and finance, suggesting the narrative that wildlife laws are slowing housing is overblown.
We work with various landowners at Penhale Dunes, including the Ministry of Defence and Perran Sands Holiday Park
Take action today: The Bill now returns to the Lords, who will vote on whether to insist on the amendments, after which there may be another vote by MPs. This will be last chance to influence this Bill and MPs need to see and hear a strong message from their constituents.
Use the Wildlife Trusts’ e-action tool: write to your MP again. If your MP voted against Amendment 40, reiterate your concern, your disappointment, why you think they’re wrong. Refer them to the findings of the cross-party parliamentary select committee of the House of Commons, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) and urge them to support nature-friendly amendments.
Make a noise and share these calls to action: The more voices that are heard on this, the more pressure – talk to friends, family, and colleagues about what’s at stake.
