A new pamphlet issued by the Council for the Protection of Rural England, given the news yesterday (March 6) that the sale of four farmlands on the South Downs has been dramatically halted, has brought into sharp relief questions about land use right across Sussex. With the competing demands of ‘a multitude of questions’, including the drive for economic growth, the decision about what will happen with the Beach Tavern site in Pevensey Bay in the context of the revised Wealden Local Plan, looks likely to attract interest beyond the boundaries of the Parish. Will what happens next become a seminal moment for other planned developments in rural Sussex? —Bay Life, 7 March 2017
Experts say a national approach to land use can unite environment and economy.
A new pamphlet released on March 5)by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) argues that the case for a national approach to land use is more pressing than ever.
CPRE’s pamphlet, ‘Landlines: why we need a strategic approach to land’, shows that England’s land is under an increasing multitude of pressures, from the drive for economic growth to the effects of climate change. The current, fragmentary approach to land use, with dozens of different organisations responsible for different issues, is failing to address the problems caused by often conflicting demands: environmental degradation, rising costs and harm to health and wellbeing [2].
The ‘Landlines’ pamphlet brings together a number of experts to argue for greater national coordination on land use, a longer term approach that can enhance both the environment and the economy. Architect Sir Terry Farrell, UK Committee on Climate Change Chair Lord Deben, and Chair of the Woodland Trust Baroness Young are among those who propose different national solutions for how we use our land.
Suggestions for better land use include a Government ‘Department of Land Use’ (Lord Deben); more involvement from the public in defining the value they get from land (Helen Meech); and using the opportunities provided by Brexit to rethink our use of agricultural land (Baroness Parminter).
Belinda Gordon, head of government and rural affairs at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said:
“Amidst the rush towards global competition and unrestrained economic growth, a national approach to how we use the land is more important than ever. We are making big decisions in isolation, and not thinking about what kind of wider pressures individual developments bring – to the land, the climate, the economy and our health and wellbeing.
“A national land use strategy would bring treasury and infrastructure officials on board with environmentalists, and replace piecemeal erosion of the countryside with exciting projects and community trust. Green transport networks, natural flood defences, sustainable housing developments, local food systems, more accessible parks: these can all be delivered if we get organisations working to the same ends through a national plan for the land.”
Sir Terry Farrell CBE, architect and urban planner, said:
“Pollution, climate change and the ever increasing reduction in natural species, as well as human city-making on an unprecedented scale, have made the proper planning of land use a top priority for our very survival in the long term.
“The scale, complexity and seriousness of these issues mean we cannot any longer proceed as before, treating land as a disposable asset. We have now got to plan proactively for rapid and radical change.”
IMAGE CREDIT: Council for Protection of Rural England
