Nature not a blocker to housing growth, inquiry finds

3 hours ago7 min read

In a striking rebuke to the government's prevailing narrative, a parliamentary inquiry has definitively concluded that nature is not the impediment to housing growth that ministers have frequently claimed. The Environmental Audit Committee's report, chaired by Labour's Toby Perkins, systematically dismantles what it labels a 'lazy narrative'—a convenient scapegoating of environmental protections and wildlife, from bats to nutrient neutrality rules, for political expediency.This finding places the committee in direct conflict with ministerial assertions that have often framed the natural world as a bureaucratic barrier to be overcome. Perkins articulated a more nuanced and essential truth: rather than being a block to growth, a healthy natural environment is a fundamental prerequisite for building resilient, desirable, and sustainable towns and neighbourhoods.This perspective aligns with a growing body of ecological and urban planning science that demonstrates how green infrastructure, from flood-preventing wetlands to air-purifying woodlands, actually reduces long-term costs and enhances community well-being. The committee's investigation suggests that the real bottlenecks lie not with conservation laws, but within the planning system's own complexities, land banking by major developers, and chronic underinvestment in infrastructure like transport and utilities.By shifting blame onto the environment, the government risks pursuing a shortsighted policy of deregulation that could degrade the very qualities that make communities livable, ultimately creating new problems and costs for the future. This report serves as a critical intervention, urging a shift from confrontation to integration, where housing development and ecological stewardship are seen not as adversaries but as inseparable partners in creating a habitable future.

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#housing growth

#environmental protection

#UK politics

#government inquiry

#scapegoating nature

#environmental audit committee