Badger Trust, the leading advocate for badgers in England and Wales, has firmly denounced the government’s Planning & Infrastructure Bill, which permits the killing of badgers and the bulldozing of their setts under an Environmental Development Plan (EDP).
These amendments directly attack the hard-won safeguards of the Protection of Badgers Act. They would pave the way for badgers to be killed or forcibly relocated for development, drainage, or the poorly defined notions of “overriding public interest.” Such vague wording creates dangerous legal loopholes and would make enforcement nearly impossible.
Badger Trust is deeply concerned that the government has received poor advice if it believes relocation or killing is a viable option for badgers. Badger populations have suffered massive declines after a decade of culling, and the impact of this Bill will further threaten populations.
Badgers are not a barrier to development.
This was confirmed by Natural England chair, Tony Juniper, who noted that “Natural England advises thousands of developers across the nation each year to help make development projects compatible with Nature and objects to less than 1% of planning applications.” Source Natural England, 2023.
Instead of killing wildlife in pursuit of development, Badger Trust advocates for an approach that integrates badgers and other species into our planning, creating habitats that benefit both people and wildlife.
