Monday, October 25, 2010

Housing developers to pay ‘conservation tax’ | The Times

Housing developers to pay ‘conservation tax’ | The Times:
Developers could be made to pay for new conservation areas under government plans to attach a financial value to the wildlife found on every piece of land converted for housing, industry or roads.
The system of “conservation credits” would generate tens of millions of pounds each year to finance the creation of new wetlands, woodlands and habitats for endangered species.
In an interview with The Times, Richard Benyon, the Environment Minister, said that the credit system would result in overall gains for wildlife, with landowners and developers required to create more “natural capital” than they destroyed.
A landowner seeking planning permission for a housing estate would have to obtain an independent assessment of the damage to nature and then purchase the appropriate number of credits before the development began.
The money would be given to wildlife trusts and conservation groups that have identified areas suitable for restoration. The system, which will be presented in a Natural Environment White Paper in the spring, will allow one type of habitat to be replaced with another as long as it is worth the same number of credits.
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The Country Land and Business Association, whose members control or manage more than half the rural land in England and Wales, said that developers already compensated communities through planning obligatons to provide amenities."

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