I thank the Minister for his remarks, and for the fact that he recognised the strength of feeling right around the Committee. As he said, we all want the same thing; we all want to restore nature from its depleted state, and these local nature recovery strategies are a brilliant tool. As my noble friend Lord Teverson acknowledged, on these Benches and others we think this was a good initiative by the Government. The trouble is that it is not going quite far enough. Like the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, and others, I was initially buoyed by the Minister’s comments. In his words, this is about hard-wiring nature into the planning system. It is—that is what we are trying to do. Frankly, it is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to respond to the challenges that nature faces and that the citizens in our country are desperate for us to address.
Guidance alone will not be enough; it will not cut it—we know that. There are enough people in this Chamber who have been or are councillors who know that, when push comes to shove, if there is not some purchase on the planning system—if the local plan is not clear that the local nature recovery strategies are a key evidence base for the local plan—it just will not happen. Nature is not something you can just talk about, and the Government are good at getting plans together on local nature recovery. You can make as many targets as you like but if you do not will the means we will get nowhere.
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This amendment is very clear. It does not say that every nature application has to be accepted or that every application for a housing estate, port or new building block has to be turned down. All it says is that the local nature recovery strategy has to be a key evidence base. That would allow flexibility but, as my noble friend Lord Teverson rightly said, would give people the confidence that when they—all these farmers, landowners, local community groups and environmental groups—invest all that time and put the effort in to put the local nature recovery strategies together, they will be listened to. That is what the amendment does. It does not say that nature must be above absolutely everything else. It just puts it on a level—or in balance, as the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, put it so well.
I am grateful to hear that the Minister is prepared to reflect. I hope that, in the period before Report, he will speak to those of us who feel strongly on this issue about some of the very real gaps in the guidance produced last week, including those on the marine side. As my noble friend Lord Teverson said, there are gaps in that. I know that it will come back to the House as a statutory instrument and we will have our say, but my understanding is that it has not been tabled yet, so it might be wise to have a period of quick reflection before it is.
Be that as it may, I am grateful to the Minister for offering to listen. We would like to take that opportunity up because it is not an issue, as I am sure he will feel, that the Committee is prepared to let go at this stage. On that basis, I beg leave to withdraw.