Planning should deliver for people and nature, says CPRE

Commenting on the environment secretary’s speech ‘Nature to be at centre of green recovery’, Crispin Truman, chief executive of CPRE, the countryside charity said:

‘For nature and the countryside to truly be at the centre of our recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the government must ensure that we strengthen protections and avoid the damaging short term gains that deregulation would bring. Planning should deliver for people and nature. Environmental impact assessments are the foundations for this, protecting not only vulnerable wildlife and nature but landscapes, our built heritage and our health. Critically, they are the means of scrutinising the potential air quality impact of proposed developments. They give planners the evidence to refuse schemes that would make air quality problems worse. This has never been more important.

‘Right now, we are seeing too many developments that both leave families dependent on cars and create more air pollution. Access to green space and low carbon travel like walking and cycling are a mere afterthought. Any new environmental impact assessment process must be stronger, not weaker, than what we already have. We must do better in order to build low carbon and genuinely affordable housing in liveable places with abundant access to green space and nature. A robust, democratic and locally led planning system will be key to this if the government is serious about a green and fair recovery.’