New research warns millions of people in England’s most deprived communities have significantly less access to nature than those in wealthier areas.
The study, published by Wildlife and Countryside Link and carried out by Stack Data Strategy, estimates 7.4 million people, including 1.41 million children, live in neighbourhoods with no immediate access to biodiversity.
It finds that in the most deprived fifth of areas, nearly a third of residents face severely limited access to nature. This is almost three times the rate seen in the most affluent communities.
Researchers say the gap is not just between cities and the countryside, but also within towns and cities themselves. In Croydon, for example, people in wealthier areas have much better access to nature, at 73%, compared with 24% in the most deprived parts of the borough.
The report warns changes to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) rules could widen existing inequalities in access to nature. The policy currently requires most developments to deliver a 10% gain in biodiversity.
However, exemptions are increasing, including a new rule for developments under 0.2 hectares. The report says this could have a bigger impact on deprived areas, where 82% of planning applications already fall below this size, compared with 70% in wealthier areas.
It estimates this could result in the loss of around 11,000 mature trees or 400 football pitches of wildflower meadow each year.
Concerns are also raised about the ‘de minimis’ exemption for very small developments. The report highlights it made up 62% of exemptions and 57% of planning applications between March 2024 and February 2025, rising by 178% in its first year, particularly in deprived urban areas such as Brent, Lambeth and Bristol.
Ministers are also considering exempting brownfield residential sites up to 2.5 hectares.
The authors are calling for tighter rules and claim that without action, access to nature in deprived communities could get worse.
Abi Bunker, executive director of nature recovery at The Woodland Trust said: ‘Communities without trees live with dirtier air, hotter homes and poorer health.
‘Biodiversity Net Gain was supposed to help neighbourhoods that include new developments access nature, but the proposed exemptions mean England’s poorest communities could be robbed of their trees and wildlife and all the health benefits they provide.’
Simon Towers, chairman at Green Earth Developments Group, added; ‘Brownfield land is disproportionately concentrated in some of England’s most deprived communities. Without Biodiversity Net Gain, many of these sites will remain fenced off, unmanaged and disconnected from the people who live around them.
‘The biggest misconception we must tackle is that BNG is a barrier to regeneration. The opposite is true. BNG helps fund the restoration of undevelopable brownfield sites that might otherwise remain neglected, which then provides a practical route for housing, infrastructure and regeneration projects to move forward on brownfield land which is developable.’
The report can be read in full here.
Image: Shutterstock
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