Biodiversity Versus Housing

Middlewick Range, on the edge of Colchester (Essex), is due to be sold by the UK's MOD, to build 1000 homes. There's much debate about whether the biodiversity of this rare Acid Grassland has been properly presented and considered in the planning. The claim that applications of sulphur to existing grassland, will compensate for the losses on Middlewick Range is highly dubious (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/19/middlewick-ranges-sale-essex-acid-grassland-catastrophic-precedent). Given that much MOD land is already biodiverse, it would surely be better to retain such tracts for environmental reasons. If new houses are to be built on 'green' land, they might be better placed on marginal farmland. As mentioned, in an earlier post, agriculture massively reduces biodiversity.