New building rules might still require developers to set up "bat tunnels and fish discos", the Conservative shadow housing secretary has warned. Kevin Hollinrake suggested that nature restoration proposals in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill risked delaying builders working on new homes and infrastructure. The Buckinghamshire "bat tunnel" at Sheephouse Wood, a 900 metre-long structure designed to stop bats from colliding with high-speed trains on the HS2 railway between London and Birmingham, has cost more than £100 million.
An "acoustic fish deterrent" in the Bristol Channel, to keep fish away from a nuclear reactor cooling system at the Hinkley Point C power station in Somerset, has previously been dubbed a "fish disco". Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner described the Buckinghamshire structure as "an outrage" on Monday as she introduced the Bill, and Labour MP Chris Curtis told the Commons that the existing planning system was "indefensible". The Bill, if agreed to, would give Natural England the power to set up environmental delivery plans (EDPs) to look at natural features which could be negatively affected by building, and set out conservation measures.
They would also set out how much developers must pay as part of a "nature restoration levy" to cover these measures. At the despatch box, Mr Hollinrake asked: "Are Natural England sufficiently resourced to carry out their work? How long will it be before these plans are in place? "Have the Government taken into acc.
