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Planning: Conservation

Asked by James NaishLabourMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled Answered 16 January 2025UIN 22119

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is encouraging developers to make provisions for (a) hedgehogs and (b) other wildlife.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook

The revised National Planning Policy Framework we published on 12 December 2024 expects developments to provide net gains for biodiversity, including through incorporating features which support priority or threatened species such as swifts, bats and hedgehogs.

Hedgehog highways are identified in the National Model Design Code and Planning Practice Guidance as a feature to enable movement between development sites, and Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework sets out how development can incorporate a range of nature friendly features including bricks with a hole which can benefit sparrows, tree sparrows, swifts, starling, and bats.

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