Land Use Framework
Land Use Framework – article by Maggie Freegard 31.1.2025
Government launches “national conversation” on land use
The Government has launched a consultation https://consult.defra.gov.uk/land-use-framework/land-use-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. You can read an interesting analysis of the Land Use Framework from the Woodland Trust here
The following information is lifted from the Government website. The whole article can be read here https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-national-conversation-on-land-use
A final framework is expected to be published in the summer.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
