Animal Sentience Committee responds to Planning and Infrastructure Bill

On 27th June 2025

The Animal Sentience Committee (ASC) has written to government ministers warning that current planning reforms fail to consider the welfare of wild and companion animals, in a formal response to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill (PIB).

In a letter published on 24 June, the ASC welcomed the Bill’s high-level commitment to nature recovery but raised serious concerns that the welfare of sentient animals is being overlooked. The committee highlighted that the proposed shift toward strategic Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs), while potentially beneficial for future biodiversity, risks causing significant harm to individual animals currently inhabiting development sites.

“The Planning and Infrastructure Bill conceptualises ‘biodiversity’ as an abstract environmental good, but this ignores the lived experiences of sentient animals who will be displaced, harmed or killed during construction,” the committee wrote.

As a graphic example, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill as currently written could allow a developer to drive a bulldozer through an active badger sett, either killing badgers directly or trapping them underground to die a slow death; all on the promise of creating a badger sett elsewhere at some point in the next 10 years.

The ASC pointed out that current approaches focus on long-term environmental ‘uplift’, potentially at the expense of existing animals, whether protected species like great crested newts or common wildlife such as voles, wrens and badgers. The committee stressed that moral and legal obligations under the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 require decision-makers to pay due regard to animal welfare when developing policy.

Recommendations include mandating animal welfare impact assessments for all developments, avoiding construction during breeding seasons, creating wildlife-friendly design features such as road-crossing tunnels and swift bricks, and assessing how new housing can accommodate the needs of companion animals.

The letter urges Natural England, which will oversee the EDPs, to assess both short- and long-term impacts on sentient animals, regardless of conservation status. It also calls for clearer guidance for developers on how to reduce risks and support the welfare of both wild and domestic animals.

The ASC concluded by reaffirming that development and animal welfare need not be at odds, but require more thoughtful integration within policy frameworks.