Written evidence submitted by the Campaign
to Protect Rural England
INTRODUCTION
1. We welcome the opportunity to submit evidence
to the Environmental Audit Committee on the need to embed sustainable
development across Government. As a leading environmental charity,
the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has worked to promote
and protect the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England
by encouraging the sustainable use of land and other natural resources
since 1926. In order to achieve our aims and for the Government
to be the "greenest Government ever" we recognise the
need for cross-governmental support for environmental issues,
including sustainable development.
2. CPRE does not have detailed comments on the
specific themes identified by the Committee. We hope that this
general submission on the issue will, however, still be of interest
to Committee members.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
3. In making recommendations to the Government
about the need to embed sustainable development across Government
CPRE proposes that the Committee considers the following key points:
- The land use planning system is a key tool for
achieving sustainable development. If the Government is to achieve
its goal of being the "greenest Government ever" its
proposed planning reforms, including the commitments to create
a "presumption in favour of sustainable development"
and a national planning framework, will need to ensure that environmental,
social and economic issues are effectively integrated as part
of the decision-making process.
- Proposals for Local Enterprise Partnerships are
currently skewed towards securing economic growth, without sufficient
consideration of environmental and social impacts. This suggests
that more needs to be done to ensure that sustainable development
is central to the work of all Government departments.
CROSS GOVERNMENT
SUPPORT
4. Following the Government's decision to withdraw
funding for the Sustainable Development Commission it will be
more important than ever that sustainable development runs through
the priorities of all Government departments. The press release,
issued on 22 July 2010, announcing the withdrawal of funding quotes
the Rt Hon Caroline Spelman as saying "times have changed
since many of these bodies were set up and much of what they do
is now everyday Government business". We agree that sustainable
development should be everyday business, but we are concerned
that this is not reflected in recent Government announcements.
5. We are pleased that the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs is preparing a Natural Environment White
Paper and the principles of sustainable development should clearly
underpin this work. It is interesting to note, however, that the
last environment White Paper, This Common Inheritance,
was presented to Parliament in 1990 by the Secretaries of State
for Environment, Trade and Industry, Health, Education and Science,
Transport, Energy, Employment, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland,
and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. CPRE believes
that there needs to be similar support from across Government
for the new Natural Environment White Paper and the proposed planning
reforms, both of which we see as central to achieving sustainable
development.
THE ROLE
OF THE
PLANNING SYSTEM
IN ACHIEVING
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
6. CPRE believes that the land use planning system
is a vital tool for environmental protection. Its role is to integrate
environmental, social and economic factors and mediate between
local and national interests to facilitate development in the
wider public interest. The planning system should not be concerned
solely with delivering economic growth, with insufficient consideration
being given to the longer term environmental or social impacts.
Presumption in favour of sustainable development
7. We recognise that Coalition Programme committed
the Government to creating a "presumption in favour of sustainable
development in the planning system". This commitment is contained
within the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs section of the
document, while the wider planning reforms are set out under the
Communities and Local Government section. We welcome the implication
that the two departments will work together to take this commitment
forward.
8. There is a need for clarification, however,
as to how this proposed presumption in favour of sustainable development
will work in practice. The Conservative Party's Open Source
Planning Green Paper (February 2010) sets out more detail
on the proposed presumption stating that it will "give the
planning system an inbuilt bias towards the creation of appropriate
new houses, offices, schools, shops and other development".
Without greater clarity about what might be a workable definition
of sustainable development, there is a danger that if a local
plan does not explicitly rule it out then development will be
allowed to proceed regardless of the wider consequences.
9. While CPRE supports placing more emphasis
on local plans we are concerned that on the same page of the Green
Paper it states that the Conservative's "believe that the
country needs to see a major upswing in development and construction
as soon as possible, and [they] will enact policies to make it
happen". It is increasingly clear that areas in the South
East and East of England have already surpassed environmental
limits in relation to water resources, an "upswing"
in development in those areas is unlikely to be considered sustainable.
National planning framework
10. The Government has also committed to developing
a "simple and consolidated national planning framework covering
all forms of development and setting out national economic, environmental
and social priorities". This will set a framework within
which local authorities will work with communities to develop
local plan policies. While we recognise that the Government will
not want the framework to be overly prescriptive, this is an important
opportunity to embed the principles of sustainable development
within the planning system. As part of this, CPRE would like to
see the inclusion of policies setting out the need for land to
be used efficiently, including giving priority to urban regeneration
and the protection of productive soil and valuable farmland. It
should also include setting out a sequential, "brownfield
first" approach for all kinds of development.
Local Enterprise Partnerships
11. Finally, CPRE believes the Committee should
consider the role of the emerging Local Enterprise Partnerships
(LEPs) in relation to sustainable development. The letter from
the Secretaries of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and
Communities and Local Government, dated 29 June, suggests that
the Partnerships could replace existing Regional Development Agencies
and provide strategic leadership on economic growth within their
area. We understand that by the 6 September the Government had
received 56 proposals for Partnerships and these are currently
being considered.
12. The letter goes on to state that in order
to "create the right environment for business and growth
in their areas" Partnership's may tackle issues "such
as planning and housing, local transport and infrastructure priorities,
employment and enterprise and the transition to the low carbon
economy." While CPRE welcomed the revocation of the top-down
housing targets within the Regional Spatial Strategies, we believe
there is a continuing need for some form of strategic planning
which embraces the need to promote sustainable development. It
is clear that the Government believes that LEPs should undertake
a strategic role in future. We are concerned, therefore, that
their overriding focus is economic growth.
13. We recognise that the Government's primary
aim is to reduce the economic deficit and that economic development
will be an important goal for strategic planning. Environmental
and social factors should, however, also be taken into account
to ensure that the overall approach is sustainable, protects the
environment and delivers a better quality of life for communities.
If we are to succeed in embedding sustainable development across
Government, this is a clearly an area of policy that will need
to be reconsidered.
18 October 2010
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