Government launches “national conversation” on land use

The Government has launched a consultation on a new approach to Land Use empowering decision makers with the toolkit to protect the most productive agricultural land and boost food security.

• New sophisticated data on how land is used will underpin the Government's Plan for Change, supporting economic growth through building 1.5 million homes and delivering critical infrastructure, securing clean power, protecting farmland and restoring the natural world.     

• The consultation will seek views from farmers, landowners, businesses and nature groups across the length and breadth of the country.      

The Government is today (Friday 31 January) launching a consultation on a new strategic approach to managing land use in England to give decision makers the data they need to protect our most productive agricultural land, boosting Britain's food security in a time of global uncertainty and a changing climate.   

This will support the Government's missions under the Plan for Change, including delivering new housebuilding, energy infrastructure and new towns.    

Using the most sophisticated land use data ever published, the Land Use Framework will provide the principles, advanced data and tools to support decision-making by local government, landowners, businesses, farmers, and nature groups to make the most of our land. This will help deliver the different objectives we have for England's finite land, including growing food, building 1.5 million homes this parliament, and restoring nature.      

As part of a national conversation, there will be workshops across the country, bringing farmers and landowners to the table, to put the insights of the people who manage our landscapes at the centre of our work to develop a final Land Use Framework.     
     
Protecting UK food security and pursuing our mission for economic growth go hand-in-hand – with the highest quality agricultural land already protected for food production whilst kickstarting the economy by building new housing and rolling out renewable energy to make the UK a clean energy superpower.     

Local planning will benefit from data outlined in the Land Use Framework, combined with the energy and housing spatial plans and a new food strategy. This will ensure we build 1.5 million new homes over five years, a generation of new towns, and the energy infrastructure needed to achieve Clean Power by 2030, while protecting food security and our natural world.    

Speaking at the launch at the Royal Geographical Society, the Secretary of State for the Environment Steve Reed will set out how we will protect farmland and unlock growth.   

He is expected to say:    

Today is the start of a national conversation to transform how we use land in this country. It's time for policy to leave the chambers of Westminster and reflect the actual lived experiences of farmers, landowners and planners on the ground.    

Using the most sophisticated land use data ever published, we will transform how we use our land to deliver on our Plan for Change. That means enabling the protection of prime agricultural land, restore our natural world and drive economic growth.   

This framework will not tell people what to do.    

It is about working together to pool our knowledge and resources, to give local and national government, landowners, businesses, farmers and nature groups the data and tools they need to take informed actions that are best for them, best for the land, and best for the country.

Speaking about farmland, he will go on to say:    

This Government has a cast-iron commitment to maintain long-term food production.

The primary purpose of farming will always be to produce food that feeds the nation.

This framework will give decision makers the toolkit they need to protect our highest quality agricultural land.

This vision for land is one in which we guarantee our long-term food security and future-proof our farm businesses, support new housebuilding and energy infrastructure, and reduce conflicts that hold up development by creating land with multiple benefits – supporting economic growth on the limited land we have available.       

The Framework will help farm businesses to maximise the potential of multiple uses of land, supporting long-term food production capacity and unlocking opportunities for businesses to drive private finance into the sector. It will support the need to incentivise multi-functional land use that includes food production.     

We will also consult on how data can be used in some planning decisions to improve the resilience of our food system to flooding risk. 

Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner said:

Today marks an important step forward in our journey to build the 1.5 million new homes that we desperately need.   

This new approach will make better use of our land and grasp the opportunities to deliver new homes and infrastructure in the areas most in need, achieving win-win results for both development and the environment.          

Our Plan for Change is going even further to dismantle the barriers holding back growth, so we can raise living standards, get more families onto the property ladder, and deliver a better future for our children and grandchildren.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:   

The biggest threat to nature and food security is the climate crisis, which threatens our best farmland, food production and the livelihoods of farmers.  

As we deliver our mission for the UK to become a clean energy superpower as part of the Plan for Change, we will ensure a proper balance between food security, nature preservation and clean energy.  

We can roll out renewables in a way that is both positive for our energy security and our environment.

Sue Pritchard, Chief Executive, Food, Farming and Countryside Commission said:   

With so many of the government's missions reliant on good land use decisions, Steve Reed's announcement today could not be more timely. Setting out clear principles, and working across government departments, we're pleased to see that the land use consultation focuses on mechanisms for delivery. Our work in Devon and Peterborough and Cambridgeshire proves that farmers and land managers, communities, local authorities, green groups and businesses are keen to work together to help shape a Land Use framework.

The next stages of development will involve extensive sector engagement in a collaborative process as we design a final Land Use Framework – informed by the views of landowners, businesses, farmers, and nature groups. This evidence will also feed into the wider reform that we are delivering in the sector through the Farming Roadmap and Food Strategy.       

The consultation will run for 12 weeks with the final Land Use Framework published later in the year. This will deliver a key manifesto commitment as part of our Plan for Change.       

Notes to editors:          

• To read the consultation document in full, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/land-use-in-england  *The link will be live at 11am on Friday 31 January.      

Quotes pack:  Tim Hopkin, Chief Executive of the Land App:   

The Land Use Framework offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enhance national resilience, drive sustainable economic growth, and position the UK as a global leader in land management. By uniting all stakeholders with a clear, consistent approach, it ensures taxpayer money is spent efficiently — optimising Defra resources, empowering land managers to deliver impactful outcomes, and securing long-term prosperity in the face of growing climate uncertainty. 

Lydia Collas, head of natural environment at Green Alliance, said:  

With weather extremes having a major impact on harvests, it's an important step to clearly set out how we'll secure our food supply, tackle climate change, and restore nature in a Land Use Framework. Reforms to farming policy are at a critical stage, and we need a framework to support evidence-based decisions about how the farming budget is spent. This should help direct farm payments to those that have the biggest part to play in restoring nature, while ensuring we continue to produce high-quality food and don't export more of the environmental costs of what we eat.

Forestry Commission Chair Sir William Worsley said:  

There has never been a more crucial time to invest in domestic woodland creation.  

The Land Use Framework will provide principles that promote this and outline the many benefits of woodland creation, including for climate change mitigation, nature recovery, timber production, water quality and quantity, as well as the multiple social benefits.  

This will play a key role in meeting statutory tree cover and biodiversity targets as well as helping to address the urgent need for improved timber security.

Tony Juniper, Chair of Natural England, said:   

Too often the health of the natural environment, farming and ambitions for the built environment are presented as competing interests, with protecting Nature portrayed as a barrier to development and food security. The fact is though that we can and must do all these things, and by taking a more strategic view of how we use land, we can deliver against government's stretching legal targets to halt and reverse nature decline, while also enabling the new homes and infrastructure the country needs, including renewable power and reservoirs, while at the same time protecting food security and building resilience to climate change impacts.   

The Land Use Framework is a vital step forward, offering opportunities to move beyond tired old binary choices, between housing and greenspace or Nature and food, and onto the more integrated thinking that we must embrace in meeting multiple pressing challenges all at once. This is a key policy that will unlock prospects for the restoration of Nature at larger scale, while at the same time meeting the country's needs for housing, energy, water and food.

Alan Lovell, Chair of the Environment Agency, said:    

The Land Use Framework is hugely welcome as an important tool for making smarter decisions about how we use our land. It starts a vital national conversation about the scale of change needed over time to meet and reconcile environmental goals for water, climate and nature with food production, housing and development.  

For example, by utilising low-grade agricultural land for natural flood management, we can reduce flood risk, enhance biodiversity, and create more sustainable landscapes. This kind of approach will help us meet the challenges of a changing climate while delivering real benefits for communities and the environment.

Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: 

Land in England is precious. We know that the way we use our little island must change to meet the challenges of the nature and climate crisis. For too long, competing land uses have been left to solve the jigsaw puzzle of England, without a picture on the front of the box to guide them. Ministers have an opportunity to ensure that the right players have all the pieces they need to make more space for nature, alongside sustainable food production and green infrastructure.  

The Land Use Framework can help ensure all new development is wilder by design, expanding space for our wildlife to recover, and building nature into the heart of development. The test will be whether the final framework can actually influence the thousands of daily decisions that matter for nature, from big strategic development plans and Local Plans, right down to individual choices from chicken sheds to targeted incentives for nature-friendly farming.

Becky Pullinger, head of land use planning at The Wildlife Trusts, says: 

There's never been a proper plan for managing the competing demands on land and the way that land is given over for development, for biofuels or for food production is haphazard at best. 

The only way we'll tackle climate change, nature loss, health problems and housing shortages is by thinking ahead about what land is used for and how it is used – because we can't afford to solve one crisis at the expense of another.

Done well, a Land Use Framework could provide a significant reset opportunity to meet all these challenges and deliver wins for nature recovery, the economy, a nature-friendly food supply and green energy.

Beccy Speight, RSPB chief executive, said:

The joined-up approach being taken to create this framework is exactly what's needed to determine how we make best use of the limited land available in England. Delivering a future that safeguards nature, tackles climate change, ensures food security and resilient farm businesses, and enables sustainable development is the only sensible path. It's possible to do all of this.

The last year has seen record levels of flooding impacting farmers and land managers across the country, largely due to extreme weather. To tackle this, we must ensure this framework is aligned with the necessary incentives to support the adoption of more nature-friendly and climate resilient practices. This is only the start of what must be a national conversation, but the ambition to reconcile competing pressures and allow strategic decision making on how land is used will benefit everyone.