Written by Sue Evans, GWCT Policy Wales
As the UK Government announces a common-sense approach to environmental permitting in England, why is a common sense approach not being applied around the management of wildfires on moorland and to reversing biodiversity decline?
New common-sense approach to environmental regulation to support new homes drive - GOV.UK
We read on Monday (27th October): “Changes to the environmental permitting system will reduce waiting times for permits – getting businesses building, delivering much-needed new housing and infrastructure, and unlocking economic growth,” Environment Minister, Emma Hardy.
“It will to empower regulators to make sensible, risk-based decisions driven by the target of building 1.5 million new homes.”
We have targets to recover wildlife in England, yet there is no talk of a common sense approach to achieving that? We know that on moorlands where gamekeepers carry out cool burning of vegetation during winter months, there is a lower risk of wildfires. These managed burns mean that any fires which do occur are far easier to bring under control. At the same time, this management supports a surplus of wild birds that can be harvested sustainably, while delivering large numbers of rare ground-nesting birds at no cost to the public. In fact providing an important sustainable income in remote rural areas.
We also know how gamekeepers achieve great success through common-sense management practices passed down from generation to generation, working each unique moor. This approach benefits biodiversity and reduces the risk of wildfires, which destroys the peat, muddies drinking water, and devastate biodiversity, more often during the breeding season.
Is the lack of similar attention because the target of building 1.5million new homes is seen as more important to voters than biodiversity targets? Or dare we hope that the Environment Minister, Emma Hardy, will move onto a more common-sense approach to wildfire prevention and the recovery of biodiversity across our moorlands?
Notes
The announcement delivers on a key recommendation from the Corry review of Defra’s regulatory landscape: to empower regulators to make sensible, risk-based decisions. It will help the Government to meet its target of building 1.5 million new homes, along with the infrastructure to support them.
Environment Minister Emma Hardy said: “We are committed to ensuring that environmental regulation works for everyone – protecting our towns and countryside from harm and delivering sustainable development. As part of the Plan for Change, a common-sense approach to environmental permitting in England will boost economic growth and unleash an era of building, while also keeping people and the environment safe.”
As the regulatory agency for environmental permitting, the Environment Agency will be responsible for determining the use of these exemptions in a targeted manner to support construction projects in England.