Attempt to protect England's rare chalk streams in planning bill rejected by Labour MPs

A cross-party plan to protect England's endangered chalk streams was blocked by Labour MPs, who dismissed an amendment aimed at enhancing protections in the government's planning bill. With 85% of the world’s 200 chalk streams located in England, they face severe ecological decline from pollution and over-extraction of water. Critics have condemned the planning bill as facilitating environmental degradation, allowing developers to bypass critical ecological obligations by paying into a nature restoration fund, thus risking the already fragile status of chalk streams that cannot be replicated in other locations.

The attempt to give the globally rare ecosystems the strongest protections as irreplaceable habitats failed after all the Labour MPs on the parliamentary committee examining the draft law rejected an amendment containing the extra provision.

These are globally significant ecosystems and they are largely restricted to our shores. So we have a huge responsibility to protect them.

The planning bill has been labelled a licence to kill nature by economists and ecologists because it allows developers to pay into a nature restoration fund rather than follow current environmental obligations to protect rare habitats and species.

Critics point out that this strategic mitigation does not work for such a rare habitat as a chalk stream, which is impossible to recreate elsewhere.

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