What are the Investment Zones and what do they mean for the environment in the North West?
The governmental guidance “Investment Zones in England” describes Investment Zones as specific sites within a Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) and Upper Tier Local Authority (UTLA) where a variety of tax, regulatory innovations and flexibilities, and planning simplifications will apply within those site’s boundaries.
According to The Growth Plan 2022, the government is in early discussions with 38 MCAs and UTLAs who have already expressed an initial interest in having a clearly designated investment zone within their locality. The North Western local authorities that are involved in these discussions are:
- Blackpool Council
- Cheshire West and Chester Council
- Cumbria County Council
- Greater Manchester Combined Authority
- Lancashire County Council
- Liverpool City Region
The Growth Plan 2022 mentions the following places as examples of sites where investment zones could be created in the North West:
- Blackpool Airport
- Blackpool Town Centre
- Ellesmere Port Industrial Area
- Sites in Barrow-in-Furness
- Workington and the Energy Coast, Cumbria
Apart from the above, Place North West believes that Atom Valley, a Mayoral Development Zone in Greater Manchester, will also likely be a contender for becoming an investment zone, if put forward by the MCA.
Many other areas could also be proposed as investment zones. The deadline for councils to apply to host an investment zone is 14 October.
Environmental implications
The guidance provides that one objective of the investment zones is to “remove burdensome EU requirements which create paperwork and stall development but do not necessarily protect the environment”. According to the Telegraph, Officials in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have drawn up a list of environmental rules that could be relaxed in investment zones. These include the relaxation of nutrient and water neutrality rules, and the pause of provisions in the EU-derived Habitats Directive. However, specific details have not been released yet.
Green groups like the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds have recently described the government proposal to relax planning restrictions (which includes the investment zones) as an “attack on nature”.
The Guardian has published its concerns that investment zones could be allowed in England’s national parks and ENDS Report has published a helpful map overlapping the investment zones with the existing Special Areas of Conservation (“SAC”) and Special Protection Areas (“SPA”).
In a nutshell, a SAC is an area designated under the Habitats Directive, whose objective is to ensure the favourable conservation status of each habitat type and species throughout their range in the EU. Meanwhile, an SPA is an area designated under the Conservation of Wild Birds directive, whose objective is to safeguard the habitats used by migratory birds and other particularly threatened birds.
Some proposed areas for investment zones in the North West are dangerously close to SACs and SPAs:
- Sites in Barrow-in-Furness: Seem to overlap with the SPA Morecambe Bay and Duddon Estuary, and with the SAC Morecambe Bay;
- Ellesmere port: Adjacent to the SPA “Mersey Estuary”.
- Workington and the Energy Coast: Adjacent to the SAC River Derwent & Bassenthwaite Lake.
While the details of the relaxation of “green” rules on investment zones are still unclear, it is still of concern that any relaxation might be placed in areas that instead need to receive higher levels of protection to achieve their environmental protection objectives.
