On Friday 31st January 2025, the Department for Environmental Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) launched a Consultation on a new approach to optimise Land Use in England and improve spatial planning.
This Land Use Framework is seeking to create a toolkit which empowers decision makers when it comes to delivering on the Government’s Plan for Change. The Plan for Change milestones of particular importance to land use are:
- Building 1.5 million homes in England and fast-tracking planning decisions on at least 150 major economic infrastructure projects.
- Securing home-grown energy and accelerating the deployment of clean power.
- Protecting farmland; and
- Restoring the natural world.
With the above in mind, it is clear that pressures on land will intensify more quickly if the Government is to deliver its Plan for Change.
A Land Use Framework will develop and support the delivery of a shared vision for English land use. The Consultation will inform the subsequent development of a Land Use Framework in 2025. The Consultation is set out as follows:
Section 1 outlines the evidence which underpins the need for this Framework.
Section 2 sets out the draft principles to support strategic spatial planning and future decision making.
Section 3 details the potential policy levers that could be developed as part of a Land Use Framework such as improving access to data and developing targeted land management incentives.
Section 4 describes the process of co-creation and how enhanced national data will catalyse and inform the Land Use Framework.
How could this affect you?
This emerging Land Use Framework is just one of the foundational strategies that is intended to help inform the reintroduction of spatial planning along with the Environmental Improvement Plan and the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan.
The Consultation specifically calls on farmers, landowners, land managers and businesses with an interest in how land is used to come forward and make representations. Whilst it isn’t yet clear on precisely how the information being requested will be used, particularly given the likely number of responses and lack of detail on the final granularity of the Framework, it is important that those with strategic land interests respond to the Consultation. If you do not provide a response, there is a risk that your land interests may not be reflected in future strategic planning. To ensure your land interests are captured please get in touch with your regular DWD contact to discuss further.
The Consultation can be accessed here: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/land-use-framework/land-use-consultation/ and will end at 11:59PM on 25th April 2025. The final Land Use Framework will then be published in July 2025.
