Legislation – Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025
Part 3Development and nature recovery
Environmental delivery plans: content
63Other requirements for an EDP
(1)
An EDP must describe the conservation status of each identified environmental feature as at the EDP start date.
(2)
An EDP must set out—
(a)
why Natural England considers the conservation measures to be appropriate,
(b)
Natural England’s opinion on how the conservation measures will enable the EDP to pass the overall improvement test, and
(c)
what alternatives to the conservation measures were considered by Natural England and why they were not included.
(3)
Where an EDP includes conservation measures of the type mentioned in section 61(5) (network conservation measures), it must state how, in the opinion of Natural England, the measures comply with the requirement in section 61(6) (network measure to make a greater contribution to improvement of conservation status of the feature than onsite measure).
(4)
Where an EDP identifies a protected species as an environmental feature, the EDP must set out the terms of the licence that will be treated as having been granted under paragraph 4, 5 or 6 of Schedule 3.
(5)
An EDP must specify the terms that must be incorporated into a licence under—
(a)
regulation 55 of the Habitats Regulations 2017,
(b)
section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, or
(c)
section 10 of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992,
that may be granted to Natural England to facilitate the carrying out of any conservation measures.
(6)
(7)
An EDP must include an overview of any other measures (in addition to the conservation measures set out in the EDP) that are being taken or are likely to be taken by Natural England or another public authority with the aim of improving the conservation status of each identified environmental feature.
(8)
(9)
The Secretary of State must make regulations setting out the appropriate prioritisation, by Natural England, of the different ways of addressing any negative effect of development on a protected species or on a protected feature of a protected site when—
(a)
preparing an EDP, or
(b)
considering requesting an amendment to an EDP.
(10)
The Secretary of State may make regulations setting out further information that must be included, or matters that must be dealt with, in an EDP.