Burnham urged to drop ‘flawed’ plans that may let developers bypass environment laws for £1

A recent report by the joint intelligence committee warned that the attack on nature was threatening the UK’s national security and food supply. Photograph: Maureen McLean/Rex/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen A recent report by the joint intelligence committee warned that the attack on nature was threatening the UK’s national security and food supply. Photograph: Maureen McLean/Rex/Shutterstock Burnham urged to drop ‘flawed’ plans that may let developers bypass environment laws for £1 Exclusive: allowing firms to dodge biodiversity protections by paying into levy will harm nature and economy, say 100 experts in letter The UK government has been accused of “rushing through” planning changes that could give developers permission to “trash” nature for as little as £1. A letter signed by more than 100 conservationists, scientists, celebrities and businesses, including the actor and writer Stephen Fry and the broadcaster Chris Packham, has urged the incoming prime minister, Andy Burnham, to immediately halt the rollout of environmental delivery plans (EDPs). These plans, which were introduced through the Planning and Infrastructure Act, applying mainly to England and Wales, allow developers to sidestep environmental laws by instead paying into a national nature levy. Campaign groups say this allows developers to pay “ cash to trash ” wildlife. The letter states the plans will result in decades of protections for biodiversity being reversed “precisely when those protections are needed the most”. A recent report by the joint intelligence committee, which oversees the spy agencies MI5 and MI6, warned that the global attack on nature was threatening the UK’s national security and food supply. On Wednesday, the House of Lords will debate the nature restoration levy regulations 2026. This is the draft statutory instrument under the Planning Act that will make the environmental delivery plan regime operational. The regulations have to be approved by both the Commons and Lords. Ahead of the debate, a member of the Lords introduced a motion calling on the government to withdraw the regulations. In a submission to the Lords, Alexa Culver, a planning lawyer at RSK Wilding, raised “serious concerns” over these regulations. Culver said they would allow the secretary of state to change the payment rate for an EDP at any point, without consulting Natural England or the developer. This would hand “unchecked power” to ministers to “set the price of environmental destruction as low as they like”, she said, adding that the price could be as low as £1. Culver said the regulations were being “rushed through” with “serious flaws remaining unexamined”, which she said could leave a “huge vulnerability” to lobbying pressure. View image in fullscreen The letter said the plans would result in decades of protections for biodiversity reversed ‘precisely when those protections are needed the most’. Photograph: Maureen McLean/Shutterstock The government said the levy rates mus