Land Use Consultation

Our land is our greatest natural asset - the source of food, the bedrock of nature, the support system of the environment on which we all rely. It is the place we live, work and rest. The people who work on and look after the land, and make decisions about how land should be used, have been pivotal in this country’s history and are central to its future. Because these decisions are not marginal, the use of our land underpins everything in our economy and our society.

The land can do so much at once. Growing fresh produce and rearing animals, storing carbon and creating habitats for precious wildlife, providing homes and community spaces, siting the infrastructure that supports our society - a single plot can contribute in so many ways. There are increasing opportunities and demands on our land, requiring land use to be more dynamic than ever. Across both rural and urban landscapes, we must maintain food security in a time of global uncertainty, protect communities from the impacts of a warming climate, host growing infrastructure networks and settlements, and make room for healthier natural ecosystems to reverse nature’s decline.

That is why this Government is launching a national conversation about land use, to minimise trade-offs and optimise the use of our land.

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.

On the ground, our natural world is under threat, with England now one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Much-loved British birds and wildlife are at risk of national extinction, whilst our rivers, lakes and seas have unacceptable levels of pollution. Some of our most treasured landscapes are in poor condition, despite the best efforts of many. Meanwhile the impacts of global warming threaten not just our land but the livelihoods that depend on it.

Farming is already going through change: taking on new models of agricultural practice, adapting food production in a changing climate, and building resilience to increased flooding or other global shocks like changing patterns of pests and disease. I know from conversations with farmers and landowners that they not only understand this need for change, but that they are actively delivering it. They know their land best, and it is right that they lead this transition with clarity about land use change so they can plan their businesses.

We as a Government must support this. That is why we have committed £5 billion to farming in the next two years alone, and alongside this are creating the right conditions and incentives to bring in private sector investment to accelerate the adoption of sustainable farming.

By publishing a Land Use Framework, we will go further by creating a toolkit to support decision making and inform discussion on how we can guarantee our long-term food security, how we can support development and how we can achieve our 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 your feedback from this consultation, set out a direction for England’s land use and recognise the challenges that land managers will need us to address so that they can deliver our shared vision.

The Land Use Framework will interact with other foundational strategies we are developing 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 as we accelerate to clean power by 2030, and driving our ambition to build 1.5 million new homes. This is critical to the delivery of this Government’s missions, and the long-term prosperity of our country.

I am consulting before publishing a Framework to ensure that this work is truly informed by what would make this toolkit most useful, what principles should guide us, and what we need to change to help deliver it. As part of this national conversation, there will be workshops across the country, bringing farmers, conservation groups and planners to the table, to put the insights of those who best understand our landscapes at the centre of our work to develop a Land Use Framework.

Only with your input can we publish a Framework in 2025 that truly speaks for England’s land, those who manage it, and those who benefit from it.