How to make land work harder

The Government’s Land Use Framework should be viewed as an opportunity to be smarter with our land, but conflicts need to be resolved along the way

- Fiona Reynolds

WHAT is the countryside for? Right now, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s only there to meet everyone’s needs, everywhere. Growing more food, plant-ing more trees, restoring ‘Nature’, providing access to green spaces, storing water, manag-ing flood risk, reducing the carbon footprint and building houses, new transport links and energy projects, from solar and wind farms to power lines—all these are high on the Government’s agenda. The need for them all seems overwhelming, especially when there’s no way of working out what should go where, setting priorities or reconciling conflicts.

The problem is land. To coin a phrase, they just ain’t making it any more. When the Land Use Framework was launched, by Defra Secretary Steve Reed on January 31, people in attendance said: ‘Hurrah!’ It’s an idea whose time has come (Leader, February 19). However, what actually is the idea and how can we make better use of precious land?