Defra has announced a consultation on the formation of a Land Use Framework for England. It expresses an ambition that the finalised Framework will inform local planning.
“At a national and local scale, we need better spatial planning. For too long, a haphazard approach has been taken to the way infrastructure is sited or homes are built. In order to grow the economy and meet the challenges of future decades, we need to use our data to make better decisions. This will also bring better lives – supporting homes to be built where there is access to water and clean air, and major infrastructure built where it least disrupts nature”.
By publishing a Land Use Framework, the Government will create a toolkit to support decision making and inform discussion on how it can guarantee our long-term food security, how it can support development and how it can achieve its targets on nature and climate that deliver multiple benefits and support economic growth.
This is not going to tell people what to do with their fields or replace the planning system. What the Framework will do is reflect the feedback from this consultation, set out a direction for England’s land use and recognise the challenges that land managers will need Government to address so that they can deliver our shared vision.
The Land Use Framework will interact with other foundational strategies being developed in DEFRA; the Environmental Improvement Plan, a 25-year roadmap for farming, and a food strategy. And across government, the Land Use Framework will support sustainable growth, interacting with the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan helping accelerate to clean power by 2030, and driving the ambition to build 1.5 million new homes.
View the consultation document.
The consultation closes on 25 April 2025.
Other UK jurisdictions have documents to guide strategic land use decisions, including Scotland’s third Land Use Strategy, and Area Statements covering all of Wales. A Northern Ireland Land Use Framework is under consideration.