England’s poorest communities face deepest cuts to green space under planning law changes, report finds

England's most deprived communities face further exclusion from green spaces under proposed changes to planning laws, a new report reveals. The changes threaten to exacerbate existing environmental disparities, leaving millions without access to nature.

The report highlights that over 7.4 million people in England, including 1.42 million children under 15, reside in areas completely lacking immediate biodiversity. This severe nature poverty is concentrated within towns and cities, not just between rural and urban divides. New "loopholes" for developers are poised to worsen this situation.

While mandatory "biodiversity net gain" rules introduced in 2024 aimed to ensure a 10% increase in biodiversity value for most new developments, the government has introduced exemptions for housebuilders. These include sites of 0.2 hectares and under, and a proposed exemption for brownfield sites up to 2.5 hectares. Charities warn these exemptions will disproportionately impact the poorest communities.

“

Nature should not be a luxury reserved for the wealthy. England’s poorest communities are already being left with the worst access to nature, and biodiversity net gain loopholes are further exacerbating this problem.

Analysis shows that in the most deprived areas, 82% of planning applications are for small sites under 0.2 hectares. The exemption for these small sites alone could result in a loss of biodiversity equivalent to nearly 11,000 mature trees annually. Furthermore, potential brownfield homes are concentrated four times more in the poorest fifth of England's population compared to the richest fifth.

"Nature should not be a luxury reserved for the wealthy," stated Richard Benwell, CEO at Wildlife and Countryside Link. "England's poorest communities are already being left with the worst access to nature, and biodiversity net gain loopholes are further exacerbating this problem." The charities are urging the government to scrap the brownfield site exemption and implement a legally binding policy to protect biodiversity net gain from further detrimental changes.

“

If ministers are serious about tackling inequality and improving people’s health, they must stop weakening nature protections and make sure every community benefits from greener, healthier places to live. If ministers weaken these rules, it is ordinary people in poorer communities who lose out.