Gen Kitchen MP on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

This is an email I've received from the Labour MP for Wellingborough and Rushden, Gen Kitchen, my constituency MP, about the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, now going before Parliament.

"Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me.

I am a strong believer that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill strikes the correct balance in securing wins for nature and for the projects we need built.  I will be directly working on the passage of this bill through committee and report stage, and look forward to further correspondence with you on this matter.

I love walking through the British countryside and our natural environment with my two dogs That is why I believe the current legislation needs to be changed. You are right to point our that the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world and surely that is a sign that we must reform the current system.

The Government consulted with the environment sector to work out a new way to protect nature and deliver the projects we need. The Nature Restoration Fund will equip Natural England with the money it needs to not only halt the further decline in our natural environment but to actually make improvements that are desperately needed.

Traditionally, developers have been required to mitigate environmental impacts on a project-by-project basis, often leading to delays and fragmented ecological benefits. The Nature Recovery Fund introduces a more strategic approach by allowing developers to contribute financially to a collective fund managed by Natural England. These pooled resources will finance Environmental Delivery Plans outline comprehensive conservation measures aimed at not only offsetting development impacts but also achieving an overall environmental uplift. By consolidating environmental mitigation efforts, the fund seeks to deliver more significant and cohesive ecological benefits than isolated, project-specific measures. This approach is intended to accelerate development processes and contribute to the UK's commitment to halt and reverse the decline of species and natural habitats.

I welcome that since coming to office, this Labour Government has already introduced a world-leading agenda on climate and nature action, making rapid progress and overturning the legacy of the previous Government, which left the country, as the Climate Change Committee confirmed last July, off track to meet our climate goals.

I also welcome this Labour Government’s ambitious mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower – delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating to net zero across the economy. I also support the commitments it has made on our natural environment, including halting the decline of British species by 2030 and developing a new, statutory plan to protect and restore our natural environment with delivery to meet each of our Environment Act targets.

In our manifesto, we committed a Labour government to improving outcomes for nature. We have taken strong steps to make sure that happens and I am confident that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will help to deliver on that as well.  

Thank you once again for contacting me about this crucial issue.

Gen Kitchen MP

Member of Parliament for Wellingborough & Rushden

Gen.Kitchen.MP@Parliament.uk  Facebook: @GenForWellingborough | X and Instagram: @Gen_Kitchen_MP"

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