Recommendation 36

HM Government Deferred

Applicants are required to include appropriate avoidance, mitigation, compensation and enhancement measures as an integral part of their proposed development. The NPSs require applicants to demonstrate that opportunities will be taken to enhance existing habitats and, where practicable, create new habitats of value within the site landscape proposals. EN-1 states that where the use of land at a specific location is required to facilitate the development by providing for mitigation and landscape enhancement, an applicant may, as part of its application, seek the compulsory acquisition of that land, or rights over that land. The NPSs and government’s pre-application guidance encourage early engagement before and at the formal pre-application stage between the applicant and key stakeholders. Government’s pre-application guidance states that applicants will often need to compile detailed records of land interests as part of the preparation of an NSIP application. These will be principally for the assembly of the Book of Reference, including where compulsory acquisition of land is proposed, or where applicants require rights to use land. When making a decision on whether or not to grant consent, Secretary of State will consider what appropriate requirements should be attached to a consent in order to ensure that mitigation measures are delivered and maintained. The current systems of environmental assessment have become increasingly complicated, inaccessible and are failing to deliver the environmental outcomes we need. The government will introduce Environmental Outcomes Reports in due course and in line with the provisions in the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act. The Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act requires the government to be satisfied that the implementation of Environmental Outcomes Reports will not reduce the level of environmental protection overall. Environmental Outcomes Reports will deliver a more effective and outcome-focused tool for managing the effects of development on the natural environment. They will have a vital role in securing better environmental outcomes alongside accelerating the housing and infrastructure development we need. As above in response to Conclusion 37, government welcomes the Committee’s comments in regard to enforcement of environmental enhancements and mitigations. The government will keep this issue under review as it is not something which can be addressed within the remit or timeframe of the current NPS review.