Memorandum from Natural England (CRED 19)

 

Executive Summary

 

Natural England believes that it is important to maintain high environmental standards for new housing during the current economic downturn. In particular:

· Attention should be focussed on the preparation and review of spatial plans and their associated development briefs or masterplans to ensure that appropriate sites and high quality schemes are in place when the housing market recovers.

· Recent advances in the environmental quality and resource efficiency of new housing should be maintained and standards should not be lowered for short term expediency

· Multi-functional green infrastructure should continue to be provided as an integral part of the creation of sustainable communities.

 

 

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Natural England is a statutory body created in 2006 under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act and charged with the responsibility to ensure that England's unique natural environment, including its flora, fauna, land and seascapes, geology and soils are protected and improved.

 

1.2 Natural England's purpose is to ensure that the natural environment is conserved, enhanced and managed for the benefit of present and future generations, thereby contributing to sustainable development.

1.3 Natural England welcomes the opportunity to submit evidence to this Inquiry.

1.4 Natural England engages in the spatial planning system to protect and enhance the natural environment. We are a statutory consultee on spatial plans (regional spatial strategies and local development frameworks) and many development proposals; and we are actively engaging in the Growth Areas, Growth Points and proposed Eco-towns to ensure they deliver high quality, environmentally sustainable development.

 

1.5 Natural England recognises the need to put in place measures to address difficulties in the housing market resulting from the current economic downturn. We note, but have no comment to make on, the package of measures put in place by the Government to assist the delivery of new housing. Our evidence is focussed on the need to maintain high environmental quality standards during the current economic climate and to focus effort on strategic planning to ensure that sustainable communities can be effectively delivered once the market recovers.

 

2.0 Long term strategic planning

 

2.1 The current economic downturn provides an opportunity for regional planning bodies and local planning authorities to focus attention on plan-making and to put in place, or review, regional spatial strategies and local development frameworks to set the long term framework for development. With fewer planning applications likely to be submitted, local authorities should be able to switch resources away from development management to plan-making. In this way, allocated housing sites can be effectively and swiftly delivered when the housing market recovers.

2.2 Developers and other stakeholders should also take the opportunity presented by the downturn to actively engage with planning authorities and jointly progress Area Actions Plans, masterplans or development briefs for identified housing sites, in consultation with local communities. This will ensure that all stakeholders are committed to the delivery of allocated housing sites and should speed up the processing and implementation of planning applications once the market recovers.

 

3.0 Environmental quality

 

3.1 The creation of high quality places where people want to live is a fundamental component of the Government's housing policy. The current economic circumstances should not be used to reduce the costs of delivering new housing by lowering environmental standards. New homes are likely to be in place for at least 100 years. They should be built in the right place, avoiding environmental assets such as protected sites, habitats and species. In addition, they should be built to last and be able to adapt both to the changing needs of families and the impacts of climate change.

 

3.2 Natural England believes that the quality of new housing needs to be substantially improved, both in terms of design quality and resource efficiency. Government commitment to achieving high quality sustainable housing (as set out in Planning Policy Statement 3- Planning for Housing (2006) and Supplement to Planning Policy Statement 1- Planning and Climate Change (2007) has been substantially strengthened in recent years and it is imperative that it is maintained during the economic downturn. Natural England's views on housing are set out in our attached policy: Housing Growth and Green Infrastructure (2008). In addition, Natural England has, together with the other statutory environmental agencies, set out its views on the environmental quality of new housing in Environmental Quality in Spatial Planning (2005).

 

3.3 Natural England supports recent initiatives such as the Code for Sustainable Homes which aims to improve the environmental performance of new housing. In times of rising fuel costs, energy efficient measures are likely to become more important to householders concerned about the running costs of their homes. The Government should grasp this opportunity to encourage developers to build homes to higher levels of the Code on new developments. The Government should also ensure that the Code is swiftly incorporated into Building Regulations so that developers operate on a level playing field. Measures should also be taken to improve the energy efficiency of existing housing stock.

 

 

4.0 Green Infrastructure

 

4.1 Natural England promotes the concept of green infrastructure- networks of multi-functional green space that provide a wide range of environmental and quality of life benefits. Green infrastructure includes private gardens, parks and other open spaces, allotments and woodlands. We believe that the provision of green infrastructure is as important as the provision of 'grey infrastructure' such as roads and sewers and should be an integral part of the creation of sustainable communities throughout England. This view is endorsed in Planning Policy Statement 12 Local Spatial Planning (2008) which defines green infrastructure[1] and states that it is the role of spatial planning to orchestrate the necessary social, physical and green infrastructure to ensure sustainable communities are delivered.

 

4.2 Green infrastructure networks should be identified in regional and local plans and strategies and designed into all major development and regeneration schemes from the outset. Focussed green infrastructure strategies should set out the strategic networks at regional or sub-regional scales with local development frameworks setting out policies to ensure the delivery of green infrastructure as an integral part of new development and local networks designed into area action plans, masterplans and site development briefs.

 

4.3 Planning obligations and the proposed Community Infrastructure Levy are an important mechanism to fund green infrastructure and local authorities must continue to negotiate with developers to ensure that green infrastructure is provided and funded alongside other types of infrastructure and community facilities.

 

4.4 The Growth Areas are leading the way in the development of green infrastructure, with Thames Gateway already well advanced in the preparation of its green infrastructure guidance. The River Nene Regional Park (within the Milton Keynes/South Midlands Growth Area) has recently won a Royal Town Planning Institute award for its approach to green infrastructure. Natural England is working in Growth Areas, Growth Points and influencing the proposed Eco-towns to ensure green infrastructure is delivered as an integral part of new sustainable communities. We have also provided advice to Eco-town promoters and planners on green infrastructure.[2] Research for Natural Economy North-West (a joint programme by the Regional Development Agency and Natural England) has demonstrated the economic benefits of green infrastructure with the region's environment generating an estimated £2.6bn in Gross Value Added and supporting 109,000 jobs[3].

 

4.5 It is especially important during difficult economic times that people have access to natural green space. The importance of green space to health has been recognised in a range of recent studies which have shown that contact with and appreciation of nature can contribute to people's health and wellbeing and reduce stress. Indeed, a Mori Poll in 2004 showed that 74% of adults agreed that being able to use a local park or public open space was important for their general health[4]. Natural England promotes Accessible Natural Greenspace Standards (ANGSt[5]) as part of its approach to green infrastructure and it is important that these standards are incorporated into new development and not weakened in an attempt to reduce costs. Other initiatives such as the Green Gym run by the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, which has developed over 50 examples of such schemes, also make a valuable contribution to improving health and wellbeing.

October 2008

 

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[1] Green Infrastructure is defined as a 'Network of multi-functional green space, both new and existing, both rural and urban, which supports the natural and ecological processes and is integral to the health and quality of sustainable communities'.

[2] The Essential role of green infrastructure: eco-towns green infrastructure worksheet. TCPA, Communities and Local Government, Natural England, 2008

[3] ECOTEC (2008) The economic benefits of Green Infrastructure: the public and business case for investing in Green Infrastructure and a review of the underpinning evidence; and ECOTEC (2008) The economic benefits of Green Infrastructure: Developing key tests for evaluating the benefits of Green Infrastructure

[4] Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution 2006

[5] No person should live more than 300m from their nearest area of natural green space of at least 2ha in size.