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County Council – 8 July 2025

Item 7 – Notice of Motion – The Planning and Infrastructure Bill and the natural environment.

The following Notice of Motion has been submitted by Councillor Taylor, and seconded by Councillor (delete the following wording) Denis [add the following wording] Tutt.

East Sussex has a significant number of nature protected areas including National Landscapes, and National and Local Nature Reserves (see Annex 1), that are essential for the local ecosystem survival and for carbon sequestration (of national relevance) and the survival of seriously endangered insects, wildlife and plant life. This Council does not accept the current Part 3 of the new Bill and will do everything we can to ensure our essential protected areas do not get destroyed by development.

This Council calls on the Leader to write to the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Angela Rayner MP and (delete the following wording) the Right Honourable Steve Reed, [add the following wording] Baroness Taylor of Stevenage to request:

● (delete the following wording) That Part 3 of the Bill is withdrawn (or, if not, accept substantial amendments to improve protection and regeneration of nature in this part)

● [add the following wording] Substantial amendments to Part 3 of the Bill to improve protection and regeneration of nature (see Annex 2)

● [add the following wording] That proposals to enhance the protections for Dark Skies sites as outlined by Parliament’s Dark Skies APPG are incorporated within the bill

● That positive proposals for nature are added to other parts of the Bill

● Assurance that East Sussex nature protected sites remain fully protected

This Council also request that the Leader of the Council to write to our local MPs asking them to support amendments to the bill that address the concerns outlined above and below in Annex 2 and, in the event that the bill remains substantially the same, to call on our MPs to vote against its adoption on the grounds that it will set back nature recovery whilst failing to help deliver either truly the affordable housing or the social housing local people need.