Planning and Infrastructure Bill: A Missed Opportunity for Sustainable Growth

The government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill will shape the way we build housing, transition to clean energy, and improve transport links. It should be an opportunity to create a sustainable future. Yet, while its ambitions—1.5 million new homes, 150 major projects, and the Clean Power 2030 target—are significant, it fails to provide the right solutions.

Despite promises of planning reforms that support climate resilience and nature recovery, the Bill does little to tackle climate change or biodiversity loss. Instead, it prioritises rapid growth over environmental protections, centralisation over local engagement, and developers over communities.

Nowhere is this clearer than in South Cambridgeshire, home to the UK’s thriving life sciences sector. Rapid development is placing increasing pressure on local services:

• Transport: Bus services have been cut by 30% since 2011, while roads are deteriorating—14% of B and C roads need urgent maintenance.
• Education: Schools in the area receive some of the lowest funding in the country, leaving teachers struggling to do more with less.
• Healthcare: My constituents find it increasingly difficult to get GP appointments when they need them, NHS dentists are almost impossible to find, and care homes and pharmacies are under pressure.
• Housing standards: Shockingly, 10% of South Cambridgeshire residents live in fuel poverty, with over half of homes rated EPC D or below—making them some of the worst insulated in Europe.

If the Government is serious about sustainable development, these issues must be addressed. That’s why I have called for:

• Mandatory infrastructure targets alongside housebuilding targets—ensuring new homes are supported by GP surgeries, schools, green spaces, and transport links.
• Stronger sustainability standards, including mandatory solar panels on new homes, nature-friendly design, and stricter biodiversity requirements.
• Real investment in nature recovery, with proper funding, stronger enforcement powers, and protections to prevent conservation land from being sold off.

I am concerned this Bill will create an overly centralised, developer-led approach to infrastructure planning, undermining local government and depriving communities of a real say in the process. There is an acute need for new homes and infrastructure after years of neglect under the former Conservative government. However, this Bill does not guarantee that either will be delivered—or that, if they are, they will be built to a high standard.

It fails to address supply chain pressures, does not secure the 150,000 social homes a year the country needs, and makes no commitment to ensuring all new homes meet zero-carbon standards with rooftop solar panels.

For these reasons, I couldn’t support the Bill as currently drafted. It does not provide the ambitious delivery of high-quality housing and infrastructure that the country needs. The government must rethink its approach, listen to local communities, and put forward a plan that truly meets the needs of both people and the planet.