England has switched on a new way to plan nature recovery alongside development. A statutory instrument made on 18 December 2025 activates the Environmental Delivery Plan (EDP) model and the Nature Restoration Fund’s levy powers, with enabling provisions beginning the day after and a second wave of reforms set for 18 February 2026. Natural England can now start the formal process of preparing draft EDPs.

An EDP is a plan prepared by Natural England and made by the Secretary of State. It identifies the environmental features likely to be affected by specified kinds of development in a defined area, sets out the conservation measures to protect those features, confirms the levy payable by developers to fund those measures, and clarifies which project‑level obligations are discharged if the levy is paid.

Government guidance confirms how this will work in practice. Instead of each project running bespoke ecological mitigation, developers in areas covered by an EDP will be able to make a payment into the Nature Restoration Fund, allowing Natural England to deliver recovery at scale-such as cleaner rivers, restored wetlands and accessible green space-with the first EDPs scheduled in 2026.

Key accountability rules start immediately. Natural England must notify when it decides to prepare an EDP, then administer, implement and monitor delivery. Public authorities have a new duty to co‑operate and provide reasonable assistance, while general duties apply to Natural England and the Secretary of State when exercising EDP functions. These measures are designed to give certainty and a clear audit trail.

From 18 February 2026, wider planning changes arrive. National Policy Statements for major infrastructure must be kept up to date, with full reviews driving amendments at least every five years-important for energy, grid and water projects that intersect with nature recovery. The Act also adjusts legal challenge routes for nationally significant infrastructure decisions.

Development corporations created or refreshed after 18 February 2026 will carry new objectives: to contribute to sustainable development and to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change, alongside good design. This aligns regeneration powers with England’s climate and nature goals rather than treating them as an afterthought.

The regulations also modernise aspects of land assembly. They simplify newspaper notices and allow earlier vesting of land in certain circumstances or by agreement, with transitional safeguards for schemes already in train. Taken together, these changes aim to speed up delivery while keeping the process fair and transparent.

Natural England will report annually on its Part 3 functions from 1 April 2026. That reporting duty is critical to track whether levy‑funded measures are improving habitats and reducing bottlenecks in the planning system, and to course‑correct where delivery falls short.

For councils, this is a planning window to line up EDPs with Local Nature Recovery Strategies and the Environmental Improvement Plan. England’s EIP 2025 values nature assets at £1.3 trillion and shows woodlands removed 8.3 million tonnes of CO2 in 2022; EDPs should follow that evidence, directing levy money to measures with the greatest public value.

For developers, the opportunity is cost certainty and fewer delays where an EDP applies. The ask is straightforward: front‑load ecological data, budget for the levy where relevant, and design projects to complement strategic measures set out in each EDP. Government guidance explains the process from notification through to payment and audit.

Campaigners and academics have cautioned against any ‘pay to damage’ loophole. Their message is that EDPs must rest on robust baselines, ambitious conservation packages and independent oversight to ensure the levy genuinely restores nature rather than just moving impacts around. Clear metrics and open reporting will be the test.

What success looks like is tangible: healthier rivers in nutrient‑stressed catchments, thriving habitats near growth areas, and communities gaining better access to nature as new homes and infrastructure are built. With the legal framework now live and first EDPs due in 2026, the next six months are about collaborative design-so that every pound of levy spend delivers visible gains.