Exclusive: Planning bill includes mechanism for developers to ‘pay to pollute’ valuable ecosystems, experts warn * Ten top jewels at risk from the bill * ​New approach could help nature survive More than 5,000 of England’s most sensitive, rare and protected natural habitats are at high risk of being destroyed by development under Labour’s new planning bill, according to legal analysis of the legislation. The Guardian has examined the threat the bill poses to 5,251 areas known as nature’s “jewels in the crown”, as some of the country’s most respected wildlife charities call for a key part of the bill to be scrapped. Continue reading...