CPRE: Why we need a strategic approach to land use
Campaign to Protect Rural England
Why are we not more interested in the land? Newspapers carry stories about where to put new houses, roads and runways; about flooding or hosepipe bans (sometimes at the same time); about the cost of food, water and energy. While climate change is acknowledged, it is usually as a distant threat, rather than as something already threatening homes and our most productive farmland.
But all these issues are central to the question of how we use land, and we seldom discuss that. It is the contention of CPRE’s new pamphlet Landlines: Why we need a strategic approach to land that we should start to think seriously about a strategic, long-term approach to land use to help address the challenges the country faces. Thinking seriously about how we get the most from our land will not only produce better outcomes for the environment, but for society and the economy.
In the pamphlet Neil Sinden’s ‘long read’ introductory essay gives a great overview of the issue and why it matters. All the short pieces that follow are worth reading, but I would particularly highlight the contributions by Lord Deben, aka John Gummer (“we need a Department of Land Use”); Corinne Swan (“there is undoubtedly something missing within England to shape and guide development”); Barbara Young (“the one silver lining following the EU referendum is the opportunity to design an integrated land use strategy from scratch… in the context of climate change”); Georgina Mace and Ian Bateman (“decisions driven solely by market values have much lower aggregate values for the UK population than decisions that take account of the wider range of benefits from the land”); and Sir Terry Farrell’s rousing concluding essay:
“British cities and towns have hugely benefited from 1000 years of relative peace and stability…. But population growth and global warming effects like sea rises and fluvial flooding, as well as temperature rises and rainfall changes, are making us think again. The scale, complexity and seriousness of these issues mean we cannot any longer proceed as before, treating land as a disposable asset. We have now got to plan – and proactively plan for rapid and radical change.”
I hope Landlines will stimulate a debate on how England could benefit from a land use strategy. Such a strategy need not amount to a national spatial plan, though that has some supporters. But it should at least enable us to ask the right questions. It should advance the Government’s valuable work in developing a 25 year plan for the environment, but also go further by encompassing all land uses. It would mean that conflicting demands on our land could be better managed and that land is being used more effectively to deliver our future needs.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
Get the inside track on what MPs and Peers are talking about. Sign up to The House's morning email for the latest insight and reaction from Parliamentarians, policy-makers and organisations.
