Govt proposes Nature Restoration Fund

The government has proposed a Nature Restoration Fund to tackle nutrient neutrality and help developers meet other environmental obligations, in a working paper it has launched on removing red tape from development and nature recovery.

As part of wider proposals for the upcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) are seeking views on the fund which would “enable developers to meet their environmental obligations more quickly and with greater impact – accelerating the building of homes and improving the environment”.

Noting that currently, housebuilders may need to secure mitigation for “environmental harm” before achieving planning permission, the departments explained that companies would, under its reforms, pay into a fund to allow home building to proceed, with a delivery body such as Natural England responsible for delivering “positive environmental outcomes” rather than the housebuilder providing mitigation.

These outcomes could be reducing nutrient pollution in waterways or securing habitats to increase the population of a protected species.

The working paper sets out three steps the government intends to take “to help developers get building while delivering their environmental obligations in a …