Bat sheds aren’t the only thing stopping Britain building

Reported to cost more than £100 million, this roughly 1 km long structure will keep rare Bechstein's bats safe from the high-speed trains that whoosh past.

The controversial project has become a lightning rod in the battle against outdated rules stymying progress. The prime minister, Keir Starmer, has railed against the bat structure as an emblem of the UK’s broken planning system. The answer, we hear, is the Government’s flagship Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025.

It is hard to argue that the Act represents the most significant shift in the English planning system in a generation.

But the Act itself doesn’t get anything built. Its impact depends on new regulations still being written. It hinges on how aggressively ministers use the new powers. Will local planning departments have enough staff? Many are already overworked and seeking a way out. Will project developers rise to the occasion? New powers and promises mean little if a lack of a stable, long-term infrastructure strategy still deters investment. The real effects of the act will take several years to show up.

When it comes to big infrastructure projects, planning delays are only one part of the problem. Another is that new projects must depend on what came before them - the creaking foundations we already have in place. For instance, new renewable energy schemes and energy-intensive projects like data centres must find a way to plug into the power network. But much of the grid was built as far back as the 1950s, and waits of 10 or even up to 15 years aren’t uncommon now.

This has been worsened by applications from zombie speculators – developers who don’t actually have viable projects or funding – that are clogging the queue for connections. The connection waiting list grew by 460 per cent in just 6 months, the government said in March. Ministers announced reforms, but let’s see.

We also need skilled people to fulfil our infrastructure wish list - one million more engineers, according to one estimate. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get many young people interested in engineering. That isn’t a dig at Gen Z. Their lack of interest is at least partly because we’re simply not selling careers in engineering very well to them.

We should be telling them that engineers transform communities. In an age of AI slop, by becoming an engineer, they can actually have a hand in building something real, that people will use and benefit from every day; something to be proud of.

As it stands, stuff just isn’t getting done. Often, projects are watered down or simply peter out. According to research from McKinsey cited in the FT, just 59 per cent of promised spending on UK infrastructure projects materialised between 2015 and 2024, leaving a shortfall of £163 billion. When this happens – when projects disappear into thin air – there needs to be clearer accountability for who promised them and why they never materialised.

Planning reforms are a step in the right direction. But we need far more vision to start building in this country - or we risk spending the next decade perfecting bat tunnels instead of building Britain.

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Martyn Williams is Managing Director of COPA-DATA UK.

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