More housing estates will be exempt from rules requiring builders in England to improve wildlife habitats, the UK government said on Tuesday.
Ministers are reviewing rules known as Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), which require builders to compensate for the loss of nature in housebuilding.
The increase in the size of exempt properties has sparked anger from conservation charities, who have warned it risks stunting nature's recovery.
The changes are part of a review of planning rules that the government says will help meet its target of building 1.5 million new homes this parliament.
The changes were one of a number of reforms in the National Planning Policy Framework introduced by Matthew Pennycook, the Minister of State for Housing, with the aim of “restarting building in Britain”.
“They will not be left without their critics. But in the face of a housing crisis that has become a real emergency in parts of Britain, we will act where previous governments have failed,” he said.
Other reforms include giving “yes by default” to planning projects near railway stations, including on green belt land, and requiring new developments to include green features such as installing quick bricks to support wildlife.
The Biodiversity Net Gain programme, which requires developments in England to increase biodiversity by 10%, has been in place for less than two years.
Several environmental groups and charities have jointly criticized the government's decision to reduce its impact.
Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, a coalition of conservation groups, said the amendments risked “devastating one of the most important conservation policies in a generation”.
“It's good that the exceptions are narrower than originally proposed, but it's still damage limitation, not positive leadership for nature,” he said.
But critics of the BNG principle have complained that the policy could increase costs and cause delays in the planning process, especially for small developers, making some projects unviable.
The policy has made construction “harder, more expensive and more complex,” said Rico Wojtulevich of the National Federation of Builders.
Changes to England's net gain in biodiversity rules rule out development on land less than 2,000 sq m. m as part of a project designed to facilitate the construction of houses on small plots. The government says this will apply to around 12,500 homes a year.
Other consultation options included tax exemption for larger plots of up to 10,000 sqm. m (about one or two football fields).
Speaking alongside Mr Benwell in an interview with the BBC, Craig Bennett, chief executive of the Wildlife Trust, accused the government of trying to “scapegoat nature for the collapse of the economy”.
“The British people want to see economic development and nature development at the same time, and yet this government seems intent on pitting them against each other,” he told BBC News.
The government also said it would consult on extending the exemption for existing properties up to 25,000 sq m. m and will take measures that will make it easier, faster and cheaper for medium-sized projects to improve the environment outside the site.
