The Government has launched a major consultation on a new strategic approach to managing land use in England to give decision makers the data they need to protect the most productive agricultural land, boosting Britain’s food security in a time of global uncertainty and a changing climate.

The consultation is seeking views from farmers, landowners, businesses and nature groups across the length and breadth of the country on developing a Land Use Framework.

New sophisticated data on how land is used will underpin the Government’s Plan for Change, supporting economic growth through building 1.5 million homes and delivering critical infrastructure, securing clean power, protecting farmland and restoring the natural world.

The Land Use Framework will provide the principles, advanced data and tools to support decision-making by local government, landowners, businesses, farmers, and nature groups.

The consultation will include workshops across the country, bringing farmers and landowners to the table, to put the insights of the people who manage the landscape at the centre of our work to develop a final Land Use Framework.

Image credit courtesy DEFRA

The Government said that local planning will benefit from data outlined in the Land Use Framework, combined with energy and housing spatial plans and a new food strategy.

Speaking at the launch at the Royal Geographical Society, the Secretary of State for the Environment Steve Reed said:

“To grow the economy and deliver the change that this Government was elected to do, we must make the best use of the land around us. But we need better data and tools to inform decision making.

“So we can grow the food to feed the nation. Build 1.5 million new homes to address the housing crisis. Construct the energy infrastructure to secure home-grown clean power. And, underpinning all these ambitions, protect and restore nature here in one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth….

“But, until now, there has been no clear direction set by Government on how our land could best be used across England. How to support those who make decisions about the land. How to minimise trade-offs and maximise its potential.”

The Minister said the framework will give decision makers the toolkit they need to protect the highest quality agricultural land, and make decisions about the long term future of farm businesses.

In addition, the Framework is intended to help farm businesses to maximise the potential of multiple uses of land, supporting long-term food production capacity and unlocking opportunities for businesses to drive private finance into the sector. It will support the need to incentivise multi-functional land use that includes food production.

Steve Reed continued:

“Beyond nature and the farming sector, this Framework will unlock growth through better spatial planning.

“It will work hand in hand with our housing and our energy plans, so we can meet our ambitious housing targets and achieve Clean Power by 2030, without jeopardising food production or nature.

“This land use data will shape decision-making about where and how we build things in this country so we can grow the economy and meet the challenges of future decades.

“Major infrastructure will be built with sensitivity to our landscapes, by ensuring our strategic spatial energy plan and 10 year infrastructure strategy draw from the land use framework.

“We will also consult on how data can be used in some planning decisions to improve the resilience of our food system to flooding risk.”

Deadline to submit comments on the consultation will run for 12 weeks, is  25th April 2025 - the final Land Use Framework will be published later in the year.

Tony Juniper, Chair of Natural England, said:

Too often the health of the natural environment, farming and ambitions for the built environment are presented as competing interests, with protecting Nature portrayed as a barrier to development and food security. The fact is though that we can and must do all these things, and by taking a more strategic view of how we use land, we can deliver against government’s stretching legal targets to halt and reverse nature decline, while also enabling the new homes and infrastructure the country needs, including renewable power and reservoirs, while at the same time protecting food security and building resilience to climate change impacts.”

Alan Lovell, Chair of the Environment Agency, said the Land Use Framework is "hugely welcome" and starts a vital national conversation about the scale of change needed over time to meet and reconcile environmental goals for water, climate and nature with food production, housing and development.

Click here to read the consultation document in full