Environmental Delivery Plans EDP

In March 2025 the government introduced the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to Parliament as part of a wider programme of reform. Key elements of this legislation are the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF), and the the creation and delivery of rhe related Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs). Seen by the Government and Natural England as an opportunity to both accelerate sustainable development and enhance the environment. The Natural England blog piece "Accelerating Development and Nature Recovery: A Natural England Perspective on the Nature Restoration Fund" describes in some detail the idea and methodology behind EDPs.

"The NRF will provide a flexible, scalable approach to delivering environmental improvements where developments have impacts on internationally important protected sites or on protected species. This will be achieved through the creation and delivery of Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs), which will identify strategic interventions at a landscape scale, known as conservation measures, to ensure better outcomes for nature. EDPs will:

• be prepared by Natural England, based on the best available scientific evidence, previous experience and with consideration to Environmental Strategies and Local Plans such as LNRS
• focus on specific environmental impacts from development and designed to materially outweigh the negative effects of the specific developments
• be subjected to public consultation and consultation with key public authorities
• signed off by the Secretary of State who can only approve an EDP if it passes the Overall Improvement Test, as defined by law
• have robust monitoring and reporting arrangements and the means to take remedial action

"The EDP will be the means to establish a NRF and allow Natural England to set the levy a developer must pay to make use of the Fund. Developers can choose to contribute to the fund rather than follow the current arrangements, which can be uncertain and complex, and require the developer to identify impact and secure traditional, site-specific mitigation themselves. The funding will be used to implement the EDP that Natural England delivers in partnership with a range of local organisations and bodies, including Local Record Centres, Local Planning Authorities, environmental organisations, farmers and land managers. "

The Environmental Audit Committee. Environmental sustainability and housing growth: Sixth Report of Session 2024–26 HC 439 published 25 November, 2025 describes Environmental Delivery Plan (EDP) (section 3.1) thus: "In creating an Environmental Delivery Plan (EDP), either on its own initiative or at the request of the Secretary of State, Natural England will set out a package of conservation measures sufficient to address one or more environmental impacts of development and secure an environmental uplift. Rather than being limited to addressing the impact of a single development, an EDP will be able to pool resources and deliver conservation measures at scale to maximise the outcome for the environment whilst securing secondary benefits like public access to green spaces. At the same time, developers will benefit from a streamlined process and simple user experience."

The report praised the creation of these for their potential efficiency gains, but also highlighted fear in some stakeholders that they dilute local ecological requirements and allow developers to buy out on nature obligations. It also rased some concerns about the resourcing of Natural England in the regulatory and delivery ecosystem, and the indicative dual roles under the new policy as regulator and implementer, and whether it has the capacity and independence to support the twin goals of growth and nature protection.

A related term Environmental Development Plans (EDP) are also referred to in Part Three of the Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill, and the Glossary of the EAC report being considered by Parliament as of November 2025. "They consist of a package of conservation measures that aim to offset and address the environmental impacts of development. Unlike current approaches, that assess impacts on a site-by-site basis, EDPs apply to broader geographical areas, aiming to enable more strategic environmental planning."

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