Environment Bill

Theresa Villiers Excerpts

Report stage & 3rd reading
Wednesday 26th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Rebecca Pow]

Of course he doesn’t, Mr Speaker, and he won’t be able to now. I hope he will be pleased by what he hears about what we are doing to protect trees.

Finally in this toolbox of measures to improve nature, we have conservation covenants to protect natural features of the land for future generations. Just last week, we announced a raft of significant measures to further deliver for the environment, and I am absolutely delighted to say that we have committed to an historic new, legally binding target on species abundance for 2030, which aims to halt the decline of nature in England. We will table an amendment on that in the other place and we will set a final target in statute following the agreement of global targets at the UN conference on biodiversity in Kunming, in China, in autumn 2021.

It is essential that we seize this opportunity to set our ambitions high and take action to deliver them. I think it is clear in the Bill that we are doing that. That is why, in addition, I am pleased to propose two Government new clauses today—new clauses 21 and 22, which will not only help us halt the decline in species but drive recovery. New clause 21 provides for a power to refocus the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 to ensure that our legislation adequately supports our ambitions for nature, including our new, world-leading 2030 target to halt the decline of species. New clause 22 will allow us to amend part 6 of the 2017 regulations to improve the habitats regulatory assessment process. Where the evidence suggests that amending the regulations can improve the natural environment, make processes clearer and provide more legal certainty, to help improve the condition of our sites, we will have the means to do so swiftly.

[Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet) (Con)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Rebecca Pow]

I will give way to my right hon. Friend, a former Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

[Theresa Villiers]

The Minister is very kind in giving way. Will she assure the House that the Government’s determination to restore peatlands will be an important part of meeting their new 2030 commitment on species conservation?

[Rebecca Pow]

I thank my right hon. Friend for giving me the opportunity to mention our peat action plan, which was launched just last week. Restoring our peatlands is a crucial part of improving nature. It is essential that we get the 30,000 hectares that we have pledged to restore restored. We have the funding and measures behind it to enable us to do that.

The hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas), who I do not see in her place in the Chamber—

--- Later in debate ---

[Jim Shannon]

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Basingstoke (Mrs Miller) and I endorse her comments about amendment 41 and tree felling. I totally support what she hopes to achieve with her probing amendment. In an intervention on the Minister, I asked a similar question and the Minister kindly gave a commitment, so perhaps the right hon. Lady and others will be encouraged by the Minister’s response.

The hon. Member for Belfast South (Claire Hanna) talked about the importance of trees, not only here but across the world and mentioned amendments 26, 27, 36 and 37, which refer to deforestation around the world, and the importance of playing our part in tackling it. I also endorse that.

I want to speak about parts 6 and 7 of the Bill on tree planting. They tackle a particular issue of many trees being felled and the land built over without proper licensing or adhering to permissions. Amendment 41 provides for local planning authorities to take unlawful tree felling and landowners’ lack of compliance with restocking and enforcement orders into account when considering planning applications. The right hon. Member for Basingstoke referred to the removal of 600 trees, some of them important trees. I would like to know and have on record whether the Minister believes that the Bill addresses that issue robustly.

Trees are our lungs, so it is imperative that, any time a tree is felled, it is thought out and the consequences considered, and that steps are taken to replant the trees that have been chopped down. On the family farm we have been able to plant some 3,500 saplings, which is a commitment we have given, and they have grown into trees. It is a beautiful spot on the farm but, importantly, it has also helped our environment by reducing CO₂ and creating wonderful habitats for local wildlife.

I believe that more can be done to encourage landowners to plant trees. The Minister in the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs has committed himself and his Department to plant 1 million trees on Northern Ireland Water land.

I commend the recent publication of the “England Trees Action Plan”, which contains some important initiatives. It is believed that the Government could do more tree-themed activity on a statutory footing, to fill in the gaps left by the ETAP on protection, restoration and regeneration.

I fully support the comments made by the hon. Member for North Herefordshire (Bill Wiggin) about the value and importance to the rural countryside of game shooting and the jobs and tourism it creates.

I understand the rationale behind the strategy for conservation, but it does not include help for tree planting. I believe the Minister is committed to tree planting, but perhaps she will comment on that in the wind up.

I endorse the shadow Minister’s comments on the importance of bees to creating the correct balance of habitats in the countryside, and the importance of ensuring the Minister takes that on board. I also endorse and commend the Government, and the Minister in particular, for their commitment to the preservation of hedgehogs. I read in a magazine the other day that badgers are one of the greatest predators of hedgehogs, so perhaps we can protect the hedgehogs by controlling the badgers.

[Theresa Villiers]

As I have said before in this Chamber, there can be few things more important for any Member of Parliament than being able to say, “We played our part in protecting our natural environment for future generations.” This Bill contains one of the most ambitious programmes to conserve and enhance nature ever undertaken in this country. That includes, as we have heard today: setting a demanding 2030 target for species conservation and biodiversity; delivering a nature recovery network and local strategies for nature; creating a whole new income stream for conservation through biodiversity net gain; committing land to nature for the long term using conservation covenants; and cracking down on the use of commodities produced via illegal deforestation.

The Bill is just one element of an even wider conservation package being taken forward by this Conservative Government, including replacing the common agricultural policy with environmental land management schemes, a massive uplift in tree planting and an action plan to protect our peatlands. Peatland areas are an iconic part of our landscape in these islands, and they are our largest terrestrial carbon store, they are a haven for rare wildlife and they provide a crucial record of our past. I warmly welcome the Government’s promise that they will take action to reverse the loss of peatland habitats and restore more of these landscapes to their natural state. I very much hope that will include delivery of the great north bog project.

New clause 16 would require planning permission to be refused if it would have a detrimental impact on nature conservation. I am afraid that much of the good work done under this Bill could be undone if radical changes to the planning system mean that we concrete over our green and pleasant land. Implementing the “Planning for the Future” White Paper would mean a massive centralisation of power through setting development management policies nationally rather than locally. Compliance with design codes could become sufficient to override long-standing principles restricting density, massing and bulk, and local democratic input would be removed altogether in zones designated for growth.

[Bob Seely]

I am so grateful to my right hon. Friend for making that point. It concerns us that there is potentially a dichotomy between these fantastically good ideas on the environment and the fact that we may undermine ourselves by having the wrong culture behind the new planning Bill.

[Theresa Villiers]

My hon. Friend makes a valid point. This is a great Bill and we do not want it undermined by the planning Bill that is to come. My constituency of Chipping Barnet already feels under siege from inappropriate, high-density development, even before these radical planning reforms come into force. If the Government are truly committed to the environmental aspirations of the legislation before us this afternoon, they must think again about their planning Bill, and I urge them to do that.