Conservation Permitted Development Rights: an opportunity wasted?
22nd July 2026
The Government are currently consulting on a permitted development right for conservation work.
This should be great news – after all, we’ve long supported the careful application of permitted development rights to wildlife pond creation.
Unfortunately, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has drawn up a shortsighted and restrictive proposal that would apply only to conservation work delivered through Environmental Delivery Plans – a new mechanism through which developers pay into a fund intended to address damage to protected habitats and species.
Restricting the permitted development right to this narrow category is a huge missed opportunity. It would leave most of the work needed to reverse the nature crisis burdened by unnecessary costs and delays.
In bringing forward this proposal, Government has implicitly acknowledged that:
A) Planning permission is an obstruction to conservation work
B) Planning permission is not necessary or effective as a means of preventing poorly designed conservation work.
Why then should planning permission still apply to conservation work outside of EDPs?
- Pond complexes being created in the New Forest through the Species Survival Fund.
An opportunity for Andy Burnham’s new Government
Last week, in Keir Starmer’s final days as Prime Minister, Government published its Delivery Plan for 30by30: a document which was widely received as insufficient. Here, Andy Burnham’s new Government has a chance to show they’re serious about delivering nature recovery – and not just the kind which fits neatly into their development plans.
We call on Government to create a permitted development right that applies not only to Environmental Delivery Plans, but to conservation work at large.
Of course, any such permitted development right would need safeguards to avoid misuse and to ensure it is used for conservation work that will genuinely benefit wildlife. This would include, for example, clearly defined conditions relating to the size, location and technical characteristics of the environmental features covered, such as wildlife ponds.
The consultation can be accessed here, and we’d urge our readers to respond by the 5th August deadline.