Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Lord Bishop of Norwich Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[The Lord Bishop of Norwich]

At end insert “, and do propose Amendment 38B in lieu—

38B: After Clause 52, insert the following new Clause—
“Chalk streams
(1) The Secretary of State must, within 12 months of the day on which this Act is passed, by regulations made by statutory instrument, provide guidance to strategic planning authorities on how they must, in delivering their planning functions, take into account the need to define, protect and enhance chalk stream habitats.
(2) A statutory instrument containing regulations under this section may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.””

[The Lord Bishop of Norwich]

My Lords, I am grateful for the strong support that my earlier Amendment 38 gained on Report. Chalk streams are globally rare habitats of which we have 85% in England. We simply must protect them and other irreplaceable habitats, because we have lost so much of this nation’s nature already.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I have not made an approach to these organisations, so I do not want to commit them to doing this, but if the Environmental Audit Committee or the Office for Environmental Protection wanted to get involved in the scrutiny of EDPs, we would be very happy to facilitate that.

[The Lord Bishop of Norwich]

My Lords, I thank all who have contributed to this debate and in particular the Minister, for her customary care in the answers she has given us.

What we agree on, across all sides of this House, is that chalk streams are precious, irreplaceable habitats that are gravely endangered. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Roborough, for giving a sense that he would like to continue to press this in other ways. My view remains that we need clear legal protections for chalk streams and other irreplaceable habitats so that developers and planners know where they stand and the public can be reassured that protections will not easily be wiped out overnight. With this in mind, I seek to test the will of the House.