So far this year we have made the case for landscape across planning, nature, energy and skills. We have built new evidence, engaged ministers and officials, and responded to every major consultation affecting the profession.
One aim
Landscape-led development should be the default across all projects. Decisions about land, water, movement and ecology come before buildings are designed, and they decide whether a place works for decades. Landscape professionals need to shape the brief, not just deliver it.
We have an internal plan, developed with the Policy and Public Affairs Committee, which outlines how we get there. The next step is a small set of specific, realistic policy asks, which we are developing currently developing and will finalise shortly.
The evidence
The public wants it: Ipsos polling for the LI this year found 90% of people say green features between buildings matter, and 89% say communal green space matters when choosing a home.
The economy depends on it: Our Workforce and Skills Study shows the sector is worth £25 billion a year and supports 373,000 jobs.
Access is unequal: The Green Gap report, part-funded by the LI, found 7.4 million people in England have no immediate access to nature.
Engaging decision makers
We have used this evidence directly with ministers and civil servants. After the July reshuffle, our President has written to ministers at MHCLG and Defra, and to the Shadow Housing Secretary, making the case and inviting them to see landscape-led schemes. We built links with officials across MHCLG, Defra and Natural England, engaging with teams working on planning, nature and land use. We also hosted a visit for the Greater London Authority Design team to Elephant Park.
In Scotland, we partnered with the British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) on a joint manifesto ahead of the May elections, setting out landscape as essential infrastructure. Since the election, we have met the Scottish Government’s planning division and are engaging MSPs and local authorities. With our Scotland branch, we are building a toolkit to help members make the landscape-led case to their own councils.
On 7 September we co-hosted a parliamentary reception with the Born in Bradford Healthy Urban Places consortium. We were joined by parliamentarians including Chris Hinchliffe, MP and member of Environmental Audit Committee, Gideon Amos MP, Lib Dem Spokesperson on housing, civil servants, partners and members and put the health case for landscape-led development to them: well-designed green space, streets and public realm lead to healthier people and stronger communities.
The next day, our conference From Evidence to Impact: Delivering Healthy Urban Development at the Royal College of Surgeons of England brought together practitioners, researchers, health professionals and policymakers to turn that evidence into action on the ground.
In Northern Ireland, our SuDS consultation response earned the LI a seat on the Stakeholder Advisory Group shaping new SuDS standards and regulatory policy. Jacobs coordinates the group on behalf of the Department for Infrastructure, and one of our members now represents us. On 11 September, we followed this with a Belfast conference, run with Queen’s University Belfast, on SuDS, biodiversity in supported housing and Belfast as a National Park City.
Planning and nature
The latest NPPF brought back the “should be refused” test for major development in protected landscapes. But protection for valued landscapes outside designated areas has not returned. That is where most development happens, and it remains our priority.
We opposed the proposed brownfield exemption from biodiversity net gain without a tighter definition, a fixed baseline date and proper evidence of site history.
We are now exploring how new Strategic Authorities could take a landscape-led approach to their Spatial Development Strategies. More on this shortly.
Scotland is developing its own biodiversity metric. We are working with NatureScot to make sure it reflects a landscape perspective. The consultation is now open until 30 November, and NatureScot will run a focus group on 26 October for our members in Scotland to feed in directly.
In Northern Ireland, our response to the draft Nature Recovery Strategy made a similar case: recovery must reach the whole landscape, not just designated sites, with farmers central to delivery.
Energy
We back onshore wind. Our response to DESNZ asked for landscape assessment with every prior notification, a buffer around protected landscapes, and full site restoration at decommissioning.
The profession and skills
We answered all 79 questions in government’s review of the built environment professions. We asked for landscape input at briefing stage, Chartered LI membership recognised as the competence marker, competent sign-off during construction, and funded long-term management. We continue to influence to ensure regulation of the built environment professions are effective and proportionate.
Four in five hard-to-fill vacancies come from skills shortages. We have written to the Home Secretary and the Minister for Skills, while our education team build the domestic pipeline with schools and training providers.
In Scotland, our joint manifesto called for expanded apprenticeships and funding for land-based colleges.
High Streets
We have submitted evidence, and offered a visit, to the HCLG Select Committee’s high streets inquiry and will publish it when the Committee does.
What next
This autumn we will develop our policy asks, and support Natural England in the reviewing the implementation of the European Landscape Convention – keep an eye out for more on this. We’ll also be hosting various events for members, including a webinar with NatureScot on biodiversity.
We will keep working with members and partners champion landscapes and the power they hold for people, place and nature.
Get in touch: policy@landscapeinstitute.org
