National Trust briefing: Planning & Infrastructure Bill (Lords Report Stage) - October 2025

Summary

1. The National Trust believes that the planning system and the legislation which governs it should be designed for the long-term interest of people, our natural world, and place. For this reason, we are concerned by the extensive introduction of new Government amendments to the bill this late in the Parliamentary process which provides little time for scrutiny and meaningful engagement. To design the best planning system for communities, nature, and heritage, it is vital that our laws have been subject to proper scrutiny through the legislative process. We are also disappointed that the Government has not acted on concerns raised by many Peers during the Bill’s passage to strengthen legislation to increase access to nature.

2. We are deeply concerned by several of the new amendments introduced at Report Stage – with little time to scrutinise their possible scope and extent. In particular we would ask Peers to seek clarity on the new clause after Clause 51 (Amendment 64 on the marshalled list). The introduction of this new clause amends the existing powers of the Secretary of State (SoS) to issue directions to restrict Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) to refuse planning permission either for particular applications or more worryingly for whole categories of development (for example, this could remove the ability to refuse as a class data centres or any C3 dwellings in areas of low housing delivery). Taken in combination with the proposed National Scheme of Delegation, introduced by Clause 51 - which seeks to ensure certain development types are determined solely by Officers rather than a Planning Committee - there is potential for a significant undermining of local decision making and erosion of democratic consent, which is a key aspect of the town and country planning system.

3. The National Trust welcomes the amendment replacing Clause 41 (previously Clause 37) on the disapplication of heritage regimes with a new amendment (see amendment 49 on the marshalled list). This is a positive amendment from the Government delivering on its promises in both the Commons and Lords to revisit the scope of its original proposals and constructively work with the sector to produce an alternative. The new clause would introduce a more limited “deemed consent” for works to listed buildings under the Transport and Works Act and allows the Secretary of State to make a direction on listed building consent rather than the local authority. Our understanding is that the special regard duties apply to any direction made by the SoS in relation to listed buildings and conservation areas. Further, if the SoS decides to direct a deemed grant of listed buildings consent, then conditions can be imposed. We thank the Government for their work on this amendment and its engagement with the heritage sector.

4. We urge Peers to support the amendments tabled by Baroness Willis to clause 52 (amendment 88 on the marshalled list) and after clause 95 (amendment 237 on the marshalled list), requiring Strategic Development Strategies to plan for - and Development Corporations to plan and deliver - a network of green and blue spaces accessible to local communities. We have provided a detailed explanation on these amendments further in the briefing (see ‘Green Infrastructure Amendments’ below).

5. We also urge Peers to seek further clarity on the new Government changes to Clause 55 (which we fear could impact the implementation of the Marine Recovery Fund (MRF), enabled under the Energy Act 2023, and consulted on earlier this year (see amendments 133 and 136 on the marshalled list). There are clear risks this approach could impact the emerging MRF system. We would ask Peers to question the Minister on how the new system of EDPs will interact with the emerging MRF and the possible introduction of Marine Net Gain. For example, how might Natural England ensure it has the adequate data relating to the marine environment. Any undermining of the MRF system would be deeply concerning to the National Trust, putting at risk a vital scheme for compensation for offshore wind which will be required to maintain and support our internationally important seabird colonies – like those the Trust looks after in the Farne Isles.

6. We also have concerns about some of the provisions of Part 1 of the Bill focussed on the national infrastructure regime. In particular clause 4 of the Bill will remove the existing statutory requirement on applicants for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects to carry out meaningful pre-application public consultation, replacing this with a new requirement on the SoS to produce best practice guidance. We support the amendments to clause 5 (amendment 10 on the marshalled list) tabled by Baroness Pinnock, which would encourage applicants to carry out genuinely meaningful consultation before submitting applications, and endorse the Better Planning Coalition's fuller briefing on these amendments. We support the proposed the Government amendment to Clause 6 (the amendments 13-20 on the marshalled list) connect to revert to the existing acceptance test as laid out in section 37(3) of the Planning Act 2008. However, we would suggest that this change at such a late stage in the parliamentary process demonstrates how many of the proposed changes to the NSIP regime have been introduced late, are ill-conceived and will not deliver the faster, more flexible and responsive system that Government is looking to achieve.

Green Infrastructure Amendments

We urge Peers to support the amendments tabled by Baroness Willis to clause 52 and after clause 95, requiring Strategic Development Strategies (SDSs) to plan for - and Development Corporations to deliver - a network of green and blue spaces accessible to local communities.

Greening neighbourhoods, towns, and cities at scale could bring a host of wider benefits to people’s lives – not just through the mental and physical health benefits of being connected to nature, but through improved air quality, reduced summer temperatures and surface flooding, and facilitating cycling and walking options. However, there are huge inequalities in terms of access across the UK. Some 83% of the population now lives in urban areas, yet 38% still don’t have accessible green space within a 15-minute walk from home. Overall, 51% of people don’t have access to a decently sized (more than 10ha) green or blue space within a kilometre of their home.

We believe that the provisions in the Bill introducing the new strategic planning process and setting out the approach to the creation of New Towns present perfect opportunities to change this and ensure that the provision of green infrastructure is embedded at the heart of strategic place-based decision-making about development and infrastructure. We’d like to see these processes promote holistic consideration of the needs and opportunities of every urban place, and Strategic Authorities and Development Corporations given a mandate to reimagine our Green Belt and peri-urban spaces alongside housing delivery. In so doing, these would become powerful mechanisms to grow the benefits that these spaces bring to our towns and cities and better support both nature and people to thrive.

In response at Committee stage, the Minister referred to forthcoming National Development Management Policies (NDMPs). NDMPs are likely to be primarily targeted at - and used in - decision making. The amendments we are proposing are looking at securing strategic Green and Blue Infrastructure at the plan-making stage. NDMPs are likely to apply solely to individual applications and while one or a number of national policies which ensured provision of green and blue infrastructure in all developments would drive improvements and wider public benefit, they will only have effect at the individual application level and not the wider strategic impact we are looking to drive and secure.

Currently the NPPF does have requirements relating to the provision of Green and Blue Infrastructure and it is accepted that any SDS or Local Plan produced by a Development Corporation will be examined against these policies. However, with the introduction of NDMPs (which the Minister indicated at Committee stage are still coming) it is not clear what the NPPF will consist of going forward and whether policy requirements within it will relate solely to Local Plans or the whole Development Plan. There is therefore a lot of uncertainty as to the scope and content of both SDSs and any Local Plan produced by a Development Corporation in the future - but the amendments would ensure that the provision and maintenance of Green and Blue Infrastructure would be required irrespective of any revised and re-shaped NPPF.

In relation to Development Corporations specifically, development may also not be undertaken through planning applications as there could be Local Development Orders, Mayoral Development Orders or other deregulated consenting used.

It is clear from the recently-published New Towns Taskforce Report (p90) that the New Towns Taskforce are promoting strongly the use of development orders (Local, Mayoral or Special Development Orders) to drive New Town delivery. This means that the Minister’s argument against the amendment requiring Development Corporations to secure Green and Blue Infrastructure as part of their overall infrastructure function due to proposals having to comply with NPPF/NDMP requirements is significantly weakened.

This is because these Development Orders use a deregulated and rules-based approach to consenting where the NPPF/NDMPs will have limited impact. The New Towns Taskforce Report therefore strengthens our argument that Green and Blue Infrastructure provision should be secure by statute for Development Corporations and that existing planning policy and guidance may have limited impact. Without it, there is a real risk that this key aspect of their development will be watered down from the start or the holistic benefits that Green and Blue Infrastructure could provide to the new/expanded communities not being realised.

Consequently, the application of either NDMPs or a revised NPPF to SDSs or Development Corporations may be limited. The amendment proposed would secure the provision of Green and Blue Infrastructure as part of the overarching infrastructure function of a Development Corporation. This means it will be a statutory requirement of the Development Corporation and will ensure its provision as an integral part of the infrastructure within these development areas. Given these are the likely delivery vehicles for the new wave of New Towns, taking this approach will secure Green and Blue Infrastructure as a core part of their planning and delivery.

Both amendments would secure the provision of Green and Blue Infrastructure at the heart of strategic plan-making irrespective of Government policy.

For more information
If you require any more information, or would like a briefing in person, please do get in touch.

Adam Royle (Head of Advocacy): adam.royle@nationaltrust.org.uk
Jed Dwight (Parliamentary Officer): jed.dwight@nationaltrust.org.uk