The Wildlife Trusts have produced a document "Swift and wild - How to build houses and restore nature together", which urges the Government to consider nature while tackling the current housing crisis.
The document opens: "England is amid interlinked nature and climate emergencies, whilst suffering both housing and public health crises. We need to build – and with the right approach: the right development, in the right places and with nature at its heart – the planning system can help us address each of these areas, whilst ensuring one doesn't cost another."
The charity point out that implementation of recommendations within the document will help the Government to reach targets to halt the decline in nature by 2030, and to reach net zero by at least 2050.
Recommendations within the report include:
An emphasis is placed on creating communities rich in nature, that can be enjoyed by the people living within the spaces through creating green routes that encourage walking and active travel. Spaces should also be considerate of wildlife through sympathetic lighting, pollinator friendly spaces and wildlife-friendly planting and local food growing.
The document also contains a mitigation hierarchy which should be the starting point for any developer. The hierarchy should be to first avoid any harm, secondly, mitigate through minimising loss and integrating new habitats and third compensate as a last resort.
Craig Bennett, the trusts' chief executive, commented: "All communities deserve to benefit from living in nature-rich neighbourhoods, and both governments and developers have a responsibility to make that happen. It's not good enough just to protect the nature we've got left. We need to create new space for nature, which is why we're calling for a new land designation, Wildbelt, to rebuild our natural infrastructure alongside built infrastructure. This could be a game changer for UK nature recovery."
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