Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill is rare chance to create planning system that works, says Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust

Ahead of the second reading of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill in Parliament this week, wildlife trusts across the country, including Nottinghamshire, have written to local MPs urging them to ensure that we don’t miss a once in a generation opportunity to create a planning system that works for everyone — wherever they happen to live, writes Erin McDaid, of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.

Planning legislation is rarely overhauled, and this important Bill provides the opportunity to put nature and people at the heart of our planning system ­— giving us a system that helps restore nature, tackle the climate crisis, and support people’s health and well-being.

I recently highlighted issue with the planning system being stacked in favour of developers, but this Bill presents us an opportunity to call for a system that helps shape healthier and happier places for us all to live in and reverses decades of wildlife decline to finally put nature into recovery.