We can make space for nature and people – Inside track

This post is by Tony Juniper CBE, chair of Natural England

Among the pressing challenges facing our country in 2025 will be the connected questions of how we can build enough homes for the growing population while also reversing the stark decline in nature. With a new year approaching, there is some cause for optimism.

For too long too many people have viewed the natural environment and the built environment as competing interests, portraying nature as a barrier to housing. Yet, only by tackling these two crises together can we hope to hit the stretching targets of building 1.5 million new homes over five years while at the same time halting the decline in biodiversity by 2030.

The current incremental system hasn’t worked
This is why the government’s plan to take a more strategic approach to planning and nature recovery is welcome. Under the current planning system, local authorities and developers have been unable to bring forward the building projects needed by a growing population. In addition, and although it has helped to protect small pockets of wildlife, the current regime has been unable secure sufficient enhancements for nature to reverse the long term loss of species and habitats.

In short, the status quo is both choking development and the revival of our natural world. Change is clearly overdue and a once in a generation opportunity for positive change is at hand, provided we can work together across central and local government, nature organisations and different business sectors for environmental recovery.

The restoration of our natural world is best achieved at scale, rather than in small increments. With land in high demand and short supply this means we must integrate nature’s recovery with other land uses at the outset, so that we can exploit the opportunities for housing, infrastructure, food production, recreation and nature across landscapes, all at once. A land use framework, expected next year, will be one vital step toward taking this more joined-up approach, leading to the more efficient use of our islands’ limited space.

We could be at the threshold of a golden era
The amount of building envisaged to address the housing crisis is significant but, with the government linking new development to environmental improvements through the Nature Restoration Fund, so too are the potential benefits for the natural world. Natural England’s science and advice is supporting the government’s new approach and, if we can make this work, we could be at the threshold of a golden era of sustainable development.

Natural England will work with developers to ensure that the investments made achieve real and lasting gains for nature. I am, for example, keen to ensure that valuable habitat like scrub is not misrepresented as low value, when in reality it can be rocket fuel for biodiversity, providing a home for special birds such as nightingales and turtle doves, both of which are among our most threatened species.

It is also important to recognise that development is far from the sole impact on nature, meaning other pressures will need to be addressed too. There is much detail to work through to gear the planning system differently, and the collaboration of everyone working across housebuilding and nature recovery will be key.

Rather than being a drag on development, a healthy natural environment can bring multiple benefits to those who will occupy the nation’s new homes. In addition to fostering cleaner water and air, nature can help reduce flood risk and mitigate extreme heat and drought, with that now a vital planning consideration as we face into the growing threat posed by rapid global heating. And the same nature provides opportunities for people to relax, exercise and feel the joy of wild places, protecting and improving their physical and mental health. This is why areas for nature recovery will ideally be placed close to new developments, so that residents can easily enjoy them.

Enlightened developers are already showing what can be done
Wildlife rich green spaces and good quality accommodation are at the heart of healthy, desirable places to live. They should be available to all, but in many cases aren’t. According to Natural England’s Green Infrastructure research, more than one in three people (38 per cent) do not live within a 15 minutes’ walk of a green space, and they tend to be from more deprived communities.

Putting nature at the heart of future plans will transform the quality of the places where people live, in turn attracting increased economic investment. We know this approach works because it has already been adopted by enlightened local authorities and developers.

The Thames Basin Heaths is an example of what can be achieved with strategic thinking at scale. When the heaths were declared a Special Protection Area for ground nesting birds in 2005, it initially stalled plans to build more than 50,000 homes nearby. Natural England worked with local authorities and developers on providing 2,000 hectares of alternative greenspace for residents to use, unlocking the homes and enabling populations of Dartford warbler, woodlark and nightjar to increase.

Inspired by this and other examples, the Nature Restoration Fund could increase investment in the natural world and the recovery of many species which are currently on a downward spiral. By supporting species at the population scale, rather than site but site, it will be able to draw on the approach taken by Natural England in relation to Great Crested Newts. We switched from seeking the protection of newts at individual sites to enabling developers and local authorities to implement large scale habitat improvement and creation, which smoothed the path to planning permission, showing that newts and developers can thrive together.

These examples demonstrate that solutions can be found to deliver more for nature and speed up planning decisions. The Nature Restoration Fund could bring forward many more, at scale.

I hope that, in 2025, we will see this strategic thinking applied to more species and more developments. The government’s proposed integrated approach to planning promises to be a huge opportunity for housing, Nature and, ultimately, people and we at Natural England will do all we can to help them seize it.