Only months after the Protected Landscapes Duty was threatened by amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, it once again faces new pressures from an independent report submitted to the government towards the end of last year.
The Nuclear Regulatory Review provides recommendations on how to speed up the delivery of UK nuclear technology and infrastructure, but it brings with it some alarming proposals that would radically weaken existing environmental protections. It proposes to ‘remove or constrain’ the Protected Landscapes Duty, the law which requires public bodies and statutory undertakers to actively further the conservation, enhancement, and understanding of National Parks and National Landscapes. Losing this duty would make it even easier and cheaper for developers to build on our last few natural spaces. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
A report written by The Wildlife Trust exposes the faulty evidence and figures which underpin the recommendations in the review, which undermine the value of investing in environmental measures (including fish protection measures at Hinkley Point). Find out more via the resources below, and please do consider contacting the Secretary of State and your local MP below to campaign against this review – there is still time to prevent it from becoming policy.
The Wildlife Trust: Why the Nuclear Regulatory Review is Flawed
Contact the Secretary of State and your local MP
Image: Clive Dunkey
