Evidence for Planning Skills Enquiry

 

The lack of soft landscaping skills within planning departments

 

Introduction

'Greening the UK' is a Horticultural Trades Association campaign to promote the increased specification and enforcement of planting within new developments in urban areas as a means of improving residents' quality of life and addressing the impacts of climate change.

The Horticultural Trades Association is the leading trade association representing the garden industry, covering the entire supply chain from growers of plants, to retailers, landscapers and final consumers. HTA research calculates the value of the industry to the UK economy at some £9 billion.

The 'Greening the UK' campaign calls for local planning authorities to have a greater level of access to suitable qualified horticultural expertise than is currently the case.

 

Skills Gap

 

With growing recognition that temperatures are rising within urban areas as a result of climate change, it is important that every opportunity is taken to help alleviate this through the use of the planning system.

 

Sadly, over recent years, research by the Horticultural Trades Association suggests that there has been less planting in new private developments within urban areas leading to increased problems with the consequences of climate change, such as flash flooding, increased temperatures and problems with ground water absorption.

 

It is therefore vital for local authority planning departments to have access to the appropriate horticultural expertise to advise on the need for, and benefits of, increased planting and the profile of the planting to help counteract the negative impacts of climate change.

 

Due to the move towards a contracting system for the maintenance of local authority parks and gardens, much of the horticultural expertise that had existed in local government has been lost. Contractors who are retained to work on public spaces are seldom available to advise planning departments as to whether their schemes for planting within new private developments are appropriate. Local councillors who sit on planning committees receive little or no training on the benefits of planting while there is a low level of planting enforcement by planning officers due to stretched resources and limited available expertise. New developments often only include soft landscaping if the landscape architects retained on a development provide it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Action to address skills shortfall

 

Currently this issue is receiving inadequate attention and the lack of skills is not perceived as a priority in local authorities due to its low profile. The Greening the UK campaign will hope to address the profile issue but it will be important that more resource is directed towards supporting the planning function both at an officer and member level.

 

The Horticultural Trades Association would specifically like to see:

 

· Greater training of planning officers in the use of planting and ornamental horticulture.

· Links between planning officers and recognised horticultural expertise

· A greater specification within planning documents of planting and green spaces.

· Increased enforcement of planting within new developments.

 

There could be some immediate quick wins in addressing this issue if the fostering of relationships between HTA members and local authorities could be facilitated and the Government was to issue guidance on the role that planting has to play in sustainable healthy communities.