A dark day for nature
By Laura Brook, Head of Nature Recovery
We are bitterly disappointed that the Government has rejected the amendments we championed for the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, despite all our evidence and campaigning. This is a serious setback for nature. But while we absorb this blow, another threat looms: a consultation that could cut Biodiversity Net Gain before it's even had a chance to work.
Back in July we also saw a consultation that was proposing to do away with Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) for small site developments. These sites still have potential for big impacts on wildlife, so it is essential they are not excluded.
Biodiversity Net Gain was made mandatory through the Environment Act and was specifically a way to deliver more nature either on a site that is being developed or, if that was not possible, through the creation of habitat strategically off-site. Yet here we are, less than two years since it was made mandatory, and Government have already run a consultation on whether part of this critical funding mechanism is scrapped. This consultation has severely undermined confidence in BNG before the concept has had a chance to get off the ground.
This rush may impact future policy, especially when the ridiculous narrative that wildlife is a blocker remains strong, despite the actual evidence continuing to show this isn't the case. We have fundamental concerns about the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, yet we are being asked to trust that the Government that this Planning and Infrastructure Bill will result in Environmental Delivery Plan and funding mechanisms that provide a strategic way to deliver for nature and speeds up development. There is a complete lack of confidence across the sector that this will work.
Yet right now we are waiting on the outcome of a consultation that could diminish strategic opportunities for wildlife. As a sector we are working hard to get nature on an even footing, hoping desperately that 30x30 is given a chance but when policy keeps shifting it is deeply frustrating We often hear that the business sector needs confidence in markets, well so do the environmental sector, trying to deliver for nature with a proposal on the table that could see 80% of the BNG compliance market being threatened with the deregulatory axe.
Here in Sussex many of the developments in our districts and boroughs on small sites, or example:
- In Eastbourne, 77% of homes delivered since 2006 have been on small sites
- In Hastings, more than 40 small sites were put forward in 2020/21
- In Horsham, 60 small sites were put forward in 2024
The combination of the emerging reality of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and the potential undermining of Biodiversity Net Gain, I am deeply fearful that all the opportunities for nature could be lost.
Recently, Sussex Wildlife Trust, alongside other eNGO signed a joint letter from Wildlife and Countryside Link, highlighting our concerns about the consultation and asked for the government to make changes but not scrap BNG for small sites by:
- Closing existing loopholes (such as self-declaration of no impact) and
- Simplifying the system of the very smallest of sites
- Move forward with its positive plans for biodiversity net gain for major infrastructure.
With so much in the balance for nature on the pathway to 2030, I expected to see progressive policy that pushes us further and faster towards our legal commitments to the environment. Instead, we find ourselves on very shaky ground, not only for nature on our doorsteps, but facing an apparent governmental disconnect from nature itself that is playing out through policy choices.
Decisions that are taken at a national level will have profound implications for the wildlife on our doorstep in Sussex, particularly given the level of development pressure we are facing.
Comments
Totally in support of your view and actions
Thank you
27 Nov 2025 15:22:00
Nature is being put at considerable risk on the vast majority of building sites in our area in an all out
push for this housing quota. Supposedly the housing is for the young people in this country!! but they build houses of 3+ bedrooms which they can’t afford
So many trees being cut down atm which ever road you drive down!! It’s heartbreaking for me as a Sussex resident all my life. I’m very fearful of the world we are leaving for future generations 🙈😢
27 Nov 2025 15:25:00
This is yet another example of a Labour government who have no idea about the countryside or how it works. These biodiverse areas are often undervalued so we must work together to make those that only understand urban life open their eyes and ears and appreciate wildlife in all its forms. Keep up the good work Laura.
27 Nov 2025 15:51:00
The Labour policy of allowing house building on green sites is not only destroying wildlife – habitat loss, roads etc but also removing all corridors for animals to move from area to area.
Governments need to respect wildlife & nature. Labour do not respect rural life as it is not a vote winner unlike their urban areas
27 Nov 2025 15:52:00
I despair of Political disregard for nature. With one hand they talk of ‘going back to naure’ for well-being and then stop legislation that would help with this. Shame on them all.
27 Nov 2025 15:56:00
We …neighbours have formed a new group….PEWS…Protecting the Environment in West Sussex…
We are an extremely small voice which we have formed as neighbours in Upper Beeding to prepare for the pending reapplications of a small development in a small field next to St Peter’s Church Upper Beeding. We have involved our local Badger and Bat Groups and have amassed a large amount of information proving that an Ecologically Survey has been carried out immediately AFTER the clearing of the field which is full of nature…we have prepared our objection very much around the following reasons…… unethical tactic of deliberate degeneration could be to artificially lower the baseline biodiversity value of this piece of land so that the developer has a smaller biodiversity net gain requirement to meet.
It is now hugely concerning having read your email .
27 Nov 2025 16:10:00
Everything said above is true. Our green spaces and wildlife are vital to the welfare of our planet and the the good of future generations. We cannot survive without them
27 Nov 2025 16:10:00
It is incredible when we ALL know that nature is declining around us that the government is allowing these small sites to be developed without BNG checks
27 Nov 2025 16:13:00
Due to the previous government appearing to be so anti nature, many wildlife enthusiasts changed their normal voting pattern, encouraged to do so too by many wildlife charities. This probably helped Labour get into power. However, come the next election we will remember this total disregard of nature and vote differently again!! The trouble is, who can we trust to work in harmony with nature and for the good of everyone?
27 Nov 2025 16:18:00
We all need to do our bit to fight this destruction: object to planning permissions, write to MPs, let your views be known on social media, support environmental NGOs. I’m part of a group trying to resist a major development to the south of Tunbridge Wells in pristine High Weald landscape. The developer is proposing 400+ houses and a massive new sports complex in a dark, hydrological-sensitive valley next to ancient woodland. I am shocked by how poor the assessments they have done are and how ill-informed some of their claims seem to be. It takes a huge amount of time to go through the materials and pick holes in them and community groups like ours often lack the funding and expertise to win these battles. But we are giving it our all! Please do what you can too.
27 Nov 2025 16:18:00
This is very disturbing as we are up against a government that doesn’t listen or respect the scientific evidence of put before them. The true cost of this will have a massive impact on nature, wild flowers, birds, trees and the food that is grown, The list is endless. The disruption to the ecosystem will increase pollution. Flooding if the air has poor drainage.
We need a general election to save our inner cites and especially small towns and villages that the this government want to over development with blatant regard for local people in these areas.
I’m not a polical person but this situations calls for people like me to speak up before it’s not late. WE NEED A GENERAL ELECTION ASAP
27 Nov 2025 16:33:00
This is so shameful.
27 Nov 2025 16:36:00
It’s all build build build. The quality of life for both animals and humans is fast disappearing and it seems the government couldn’t care less. It’s got to stop somewhere or this small island will be covered in concrete
27 Nov 2025 16:43:00
The current government doesn’t give two hoots for the environment. Sadly, the other main parties are very similar.
27 Nov 2025 17:00:00
So sorry to see this devastating short term narrow thinking from the government. Perhaps someone might like to write an open letter of despair or of encouragement to the very many of us who care so much about the environment and wild world.
27 Nov 2025 17:05:00
So sorry to see this devastating short term narrow thinking from the government. Perhaps someone might like to write an open letter of despair or of encouragement to the very many of us who care so much about the environment and wild world.
27 Nov 2025 17:08:00
This government has no care for the environment on land and at sea. I’m heartbroken they are dismantling what has been out in place. Having been brought up in a rural community the loss of flora and fauna is devastating. We need a general election urgently!
27 Nov 2025 17:42:00
Without the natural world intact we have nothing.
27 Nov 2025 17:47:00
I am sick to death of these bloody shortsighted, thick as the proverbial, self serving morons just riding roughshod over the land, the people, and more importantly the animals birds, reptiles insects etc When it all goes dangerously wrong and its to late to claw our land and nature back. I wonder who they will blame. Certainly not them, probably blame the great fire of London or the attack of the vikings! I wish the people could buy the land ourselves and conserve everything we can. Perhaps if everyone that is likeminded bought land by the square metre and have as many squares as you can afford, why can’t we do what our idiot laughingly called leaders won’t!!!
27 Nov 2025 18:08:00
This government talks about green energy but continues to build on our special site’s in Sussex.Absolutely disgraceful
27 Nov 2025 18:22:00
An excellent well balanced article, thank you
27 Nov 2025 18:23:00
It is incredibly frustrating and worrying to see the Government actively undermining Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) before it has even had a proper chance to take hold.
The potential scrapping of BNG for small sites is a truly retrograde step. As the article rightly points out, these smaller developments collectively have a huge impact, particularly in highly pressured areas like Sussex, and excluding them threatens to undo so much of the progress we desperately need to make for nature recovery.
We need long-term, stable, and progressive policy to meet our environmental commitments, not this constant shifting of the goalposts. It is essential that the environmental sector has the confidence to deliver nature on an even footing.
Please keep up the vital work you are doing in campaigning on these issues. We stand with you.
27 Nov 2025 18:30:00
Chris Packham was on the radio this morning talking of the 70% loss of wildlife since the 1970s. Thank you for all you are doing.
27 Nov 2025 20:05:00
I am fed up with this.It seems that our government,has it’s ears closed; build more houses and growth is all that matters.When oh when will the natural environment have a price to pay so that developers will be forced to consider “brown field“sites first?
27 Nov 2025 20:11:00
It is too easy for a big site developer to start with a small site no need for bng. Then do the rest later one piece at a time. If we trusted developers to put in bng any how. It would be ok. Please use google maps and take a record of the site near you before developers take a survey after clearing a site. We may need proof it seems. Ah some developers are honest and care about bng. The houses can sell for more as a result. The history does not say so. Do we need to list all the trees on a site. That will curtail developers more. 10%bng is not a big ask. It will help general mental health and is part of what makes us English. Good wishes with the campaign.
27 Nov 2025 20:23:00
With a recent survey in Wales indicating how many species have been lost in recent years, this action beggars belief. We already have the unenviable title of the most ecologically deprived nation in Europe…
People need houses, yes, but they also need nature in all its forms as has been proved time and again.
Please keep trying, as so many of us are behind your efforts. We are trying to do our bit to preserve and encourage wildlife in our own small patches.
27 Nov 2025 21:07:00
All around us in Sussex wild-life habitations are being eroded by this “maniacal “ necessity to build houses on every spare piece of land!! There is not enough water to go round ( still a hosepipe ban!) yet still more houses are being erected – yet we seem to be powerless to stop it – local politicians & government are taking no notice of our protests.
27 Nov 2025 22:10:00
Totally in support of your view and actions
Thank you
27 Nov 2025 23:36:00
my spouse and I moved to Canada in 1968, but having grown up on a Sussex farm, I could never leave the land behind me. During each visit to England with the children, I tried to show them the richness f the environment. As much as I love Canada, Sussex has something very deep, because of the trees, the woodlands, the Downs, the coastline . . . and it appeared that there was still respect for all these things, especially the wildlife. I am horrified at the news of these recent developments! May there be a way in which to save the situation, even now.
28 Nov 2025 03:11:00
Stop this rollercoaster of Bills detrimental to the environment we only share with nature
28 Nov 2025 06:19:00
Really worrying, so much effort to be destroyed. Nature already having a very hard time even with existing protections. See the enormous development south of Horndean ( south-east Hants) where 100 metres of established hedges have been needlessly destroyed. Probably mitigated elsewhere but locally disastrous crowding out of nature and loss of continuity space for nature.
Without continuing support and necessary legislation the vital financial investment essential for a sustained and widely functioning natural capital market will not happen.
28 Nov 2025 08:26:00
I think it is disgraceful of the government to backtrack on this policy.
28 Nov 2025 08:39:00
I’m afraid this all comes down to money. The government is in hock to developers who pay for lobbyists. Lobbying should be illegal – just as at COP. When you embrace rampant neo-liberal capitalism and the bottom line is always money then Nature, which can’t have a price put on it, because it’s priceless, always loses. Join the Green Party which is the only one that puts Nature and the Biosphere to the forefront! Green jobs respecting Nature = wealth for everyone.
28 Nov 2025 08:55:00
The public do not want to live in a sterile concrete jungle. We need nature around us , not having to travel to specific sites to view it , but that is the world which you are increasingly subjectively leading us to
Wake up before it’s too late for the natural environment
28 Nov 2025 09:03:00
Brilliant article – need to raise awareness – I know BNG is complex and relies upon expert ecologists, but it’s role is vital – even if we get 50% right!
28 Nov 2025 09:27:00
I love in Surrey but regularly follow your engaging emails. In 2008 we bought a small house in Miford which had a small plot next to it ear-marked for building another house. We were told this would take place after 7yrs. but it was actually 15yrs. before building commenced. In the meantime we’d gone to town making our garden attractive to bird – feeders, water, nest-boxes etc. on the adjacent plot there were flowering cherry trees, fir trees, a beautiful yew, bramble, teasels & thistles. The plot was inundated with resident dunnocks, wrens, blackbirds, visiting goldfinches, goldcrests, and to our delight, bullfinches. Some of these birds visited our garden & feeders, in particular the goldfinches & bullfinches. Sometimes we had as many as 6 bullfinches at a time! Outnumbered only by the goldfinches, blue tits, great tits & coal tits. We also had greenfinches, siskins, the occasional mistle thrush. Neighbours commented on the number of birds around, & we had a photographer wanting to visit to photograph the bullfinches. However, in two days they cleared the plot. Trees taken down, earth stripped of vegetation and flattened, in preparation to begin building. A new house was built in about 8 months. Just one house. The effect on the birds was immediate, from the moment the trees came down. Everything practically disappeared overnight, except the tits, occasional blackbird. Never saw another dunnock or wren. Goldfinches kept coming to the feeders, but our fabulous bullfinches were gone. The bats we’d seen in the evenings disappeared to, as did the stag beetles we’d always seen in June/July. The impact of building just that one house was devastating & earstwhile apparent. 18months after that house was built, we moved, not because we didn’t like the new house, but because there was now a void. Our garden was depleted of the joy the birds had brought us. We couldn’t stand the emptiness.
28 Nov 2025 09:47:00
We are already the most nature depleted country in Europe and one of the most nature depleted in the world, and yet this governement has declared war on nature yet again. Please, please, please SWT, join with other nature groups and organise some protests! This is the only way the current government can see how many people are against this wildlife destroying approach to housebuilding.
28 Nov 2025 10:50:00
This Labour government is only interested in building more houses whatever the consequences. They have little or no understanding of the rural environment or the people that live there, let alone the importance of nature to the human population. Unfortunately, they have a majority in Parliament and our democratic processes require MPs to vote in the way the Cabinet requires – so nothing is likely to change until after the next election.
28 Nov 2025 15:00:00
As farmers we are dismayed to read this, we were thinking about putting some land in for BNG.
Other environmental scheme payments are also on hold. We have put in a new wetland restoration (2 years in the planning) , removing our income generated from the pasture, but will receive no ongoing support for this. We all need to have confidence in new environmental schemes to plan for the future.
28 Nov 2025 16:48:00
Why is the Labour Government so determined to ignore the wishes of those who live in the country. It is all Build, Build at any cost. In my small village in East Sussex, there is planning for several hundred houses to be built on several fields; no infrastructure, no interest in nature and species who will suffer. It is disgraceful and who will buy these houses, probably landlords who will rent them out, so no help to local people trying to get a small house.
28 Nov 2025 20:41:00
I am so disappointed by the constant failure to commit and u turns our government is making. This economic model to build more housing to kick start the economy is wrong and outdated and detrimental to our natural environment. Everybody knows this so why repeat. I may not have all answers but surely a more holistic approach to recovering the wellbeing of our society can only happen if we lead a life balanced and in support of nature.
29 Nov 2025 08:11:00
Thank you, Laura for continuing to keep the profile of biodiversity alive when developments are being considered.
29 Nov 2025 08:55:00
This is indeed tragic news but wonder now as we in Upper Beeding are armed and ready to fight the pending of a reapplication of the development of six houses on land at What3words ///strongly.ombudsman.choppers could have a strong argument that due to the fact that 10% Biodiversity Net could be removed that this land should now be regarded by Horsham District Council as needing more protection from development by the mere fact that any development would not need to mitigate the destruction of wildlife present within this area…..we value your opinion.
29 Nov 2025 10:08:00
I’m dismayed at the way this Labour Government elected with so much hope is now back-tracking on so many pledges for the care of our precious environment especially regarding BNG. Constant pressure for growth & of course housing but the one should not need to be sacrificed for the other. Please keep fighting & know that we support you. 💚
30 Nov 2025 08:46:00
A short-sighted and shameful decision. Very upsetting
01 Dec 2025 10:34:00
we are devastated that all our joint efforts seem to be in vain and this government is prepared to over ride millions of people who care deeply about our natural world, but we must all keep up the fight as others have done before us , thankyou for all the work you do on our behalf
01 Dec 2025 15:38:00
A short-sighted and shameful decision. Very upsetting
02 Dec 2025 08:12:00
I fully support your views on this. I am shocked that a Labour Government would come up with this. It totally undermines my trust in the Party.
02 Dec 2025 17:36:00
And this government was elected on a promise to defend nature and this government talks about mitigating climate change – the hypocrisy, the lies. Labour MPs lie daily in the chamber. Needs calling out on every possible media platform on every possible day of the week.
04 Dec 2025 10:31:00
Farmers are now really worrying after the third bad harvest in a row due to climate change, but without a solid basis to improve outcomes for nature and biodiversity things will just get worse. Climate change and biodiversity loss are not ‘nice to haves’ for those of us who can’t live in underground palaces, it represents whether we have a future or not
04 Dec 2025 13:31:00
The development of more houses is totally irresponsible. No infrastructure to cope and no concept of the damage being caused to nature and the environment. Shallow thoughtlessness.
04 Dec 2025 21:49:00
The development of more houses is totally irresponsible. No infrastructure to cope and no concept of the damage being caused to nature and the environment. Shallow thoughtlessness.
05 Dec 2025 12:03:00
It is all so dispiriting, but we MUST stand up for what we believe in – to protect our natural improvement to the best of our ability. Thank you for a balanced and thoughtful article, and 3 cheers for everyone who supports the Trust’s efforts!
06 Dec 2025 06:18:00
After writing to my MP, a Lib Dem about this dire situation, he informed me that all the Lib Dems had voted against the bill, but I was astonished to hear that the Green Party had actually voted for this awful bill. How many people would have thought a Green Party would be pro wildlife. It seems this one is not, which is really very disappointing as I was thinking that maybe we were seeing an increase in popularity for a wildlife friendly party at last.
16 Dec 2025 10:28:00
very supportive of your views & sorry your comments ignored by government
18 Apr 2026 13:38:00