The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 is here – but the fight for nature is far from over

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The Planning and Infrastructure Bill has now received Royal Assent and enters the statute book as the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, marking the end of a long, bruising legislative journey and the beginning of a new and somewhat uncertain phase for environmental protection in England.

Over the past year, this legislation has prompted an extraordinary level of engagement and opposition, not only from the environmental sector but from planners, lawyers, academics, politicians, community groups and others concerned about its implications. For many working in ecology and environmental management, it has been a period marked by sustained anxiety, frustration and exhaustion, as repeated attempts were made to push back against what is widely recognised as regressive reform.

Despite amendments and assurances, Part 3 of the Act introduces a fundamentally new approach to addressing the environmental impacts of development through Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs) and the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF). In areas covered by an EDP, developers will no longer be required to comply with the specified elements of the Habitats Regulations 2017, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and/or the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, instead paying into the NRF, with Natural England responsible for delivering strategic compensation and nature recovery elsewhere.

The Government continues to argue that this approach will both accelerate development and deliver better outcomes for nature. However, throughout the Bill’s passage, these claims have been robustly challenged. Environmental experts, senior lawyers and former regulators repeatedly warned that the reforms would reduce levels of environmental protection, with one prominent barrister describing them as a “licence to kill nature”. Concerns were also raised about new limits on judicial review, further constraining the ability to challenge environmentally damaging decisions. To add to this, the Act is highly unlikely to speed up housebuilding as many other factors hold up construction.

What happens next?

While the Bill has now become law, much of its real-world impact will depend on how it is implemented.

The Government has published the first Policy Paper on implementing the Nature Restoration Fund, focused on nutrient neutrality, and has committed to consulting on the first EDPs in spring/summer 2026, also centred on nutrient neutrality. Natural England is currently exploring EDPs for a number of catchments experiencing significant development pressure, including:

  1. Peak District Dales
  2. Poole Harbour
  3. River Avon
  4. River Axe
  5. River Camel
  6. River Clun
  7. River Eden
  8. River Kent
  9. River Lambourne
  10. River Lugg
  11. River Mease
  12. Solent (including River Itchen)
  13. Somerset Levels and Moors
  14. Stodmarsh
  15. Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast
  16. The Broads (including the River Wensum)

The Policy Paper also confirms that Great Crested Newts will be considered in future EDPs. Natural England intends to draw on the  evidence base developed through District Level Licensing (DLL) and has begun preparatory work to explore how this strategic approach could be transferred into the Nature Restoration Fund.

Importantly, the Government has recommitted to returning to Parliament after the first nutrient neutrality EDPs are made, to issue a statement on the initial lessons learned from their development and implementation. Only once Parliament has seen this statement will the Secretary of State be able to introduce further EDPs covering other environmental issues.

A regulator out of step with the sector

Against this backdrop, Natural England has published a strikingly uncritical response welcoming the Act’s passage into law. This has been denigrated across the sector for failing to acknowledge the very real concerns about weakened protections. For many, it is astonishing that the statutory body charged with protecting and restoring England’s natural environment has appeared so disconnected from the lived experience and professional judgement of those working on the ground.

The road ahead

As others have pointed out, it is worth recalling that a year ago this month the Government published its Planning Reform Working Paper: Development and Nature Recovery, at a time when there was still significant goodwill within the environmental sector and a genuine belief that development and nature recovery could be aligned through evidence-led policy. That goodwill has now been severely eroded.

The Act may be law, but this is not the end of the road. The coming year will demand sustained scrutiny, engagement and challenge as EDPs are developed and the NRF is put into practice. There will be a continued need to push back against a Government that has increasingly sidelined scientific evidence and professional expertise in favour of rhetoric and perceived speed of action.

CIEEM, alongside the wider sector and other partners, will remain actively engaged in this next phase, championing evidence-based policy, holding decision-makers to account and making the case that nature is not an obstacle to progress, but fundamental to it.

The fight goes on!