Ten ways to improve planning in the UK

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The current UK government is committed to the biggest growth in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, but planning policy as exemplified by the National Planning Policy Framework is not fit for purpose and local planning human resource strategy is inadequate.

I have been involved in sustainable development for over 30 years and have worked in more than 90 countries. It is clear to me that the UK is taking a far from optimal approach – one that would surely have disappointed Sir Ebenezer Howard, the renowned urban planner and founder of the garden city movement.

I am presenting a sample 10 lessons as provocative propositions to encourage a discussion on the development of the modern equivalent of garden cities – ‘One Planet’ towns, cities, villages and hamlets.

1. Think of a ‘green life jacket’ rather than a green belt and work out the best ratio of green space to built areas. Only the UK appears to have the outmoded tunnel vision that the point of planning is to ‘protect a green belt’. Green space within and around a development is central to climate change resilience. The correct balance should be planned and an effective ratio (green/grey) developed for community purchased land. Howard thought it should be 5,000 acres of green space and 1,000 acres of buildings for instance. I developed an updated model using 30 acres of buildings on 1,000 acres of agricultural land.
2. Use agriculture (agroforestry) to support communities. Housed communities should benefit financially and materially from planned developments (synergistic contractual relationships), with agricultural tenants supplying ecosystem service and human support functions (such as health, food, energy, clean water, and nature restoration). A bioregional approach would help here.
3. Centre governance on climate change resilience and create a community growth fund. Agricultural land can be amicably purchased at £20k per hectare, and with planned development is worth £2m. Community access to this land betterment increment (via urban and rural rental portfolios) is more than enough to fund innovation, resilience and growth forever.
4. Use Impact funds as the core investment to be paid back within five years. The management of the project should be linked to a tripartite environmental stewardship contract that builds on the synergy between state, community and social enterprise partners. Proposals at the scale of £100m are highly attractive to pension and impact investment funds. 
5. Facilitate the wisdom of community governance with empowered learning and direction. A ‘council of elders’ approach with elected highly competent officers could deliver success and transferable object lessons learned on effectiveness and impact.    
6. Use agroforestry as a nature-based solution for the restoration of ecosystem services. The correct trees in the correct location can increase food production, and at the same time provide energy, sequestration and biodiversity restoration benefits. This form of vertical farming is a profitable way to clean the air, and improve both the microclimate and soils. 
7. Use trees as a double pathway entry point for a transition economy. Trees can provide many benefits, but the two most relevant to planning and the economy are (1) Timber and (2) Lignocellulose (the structural chemical in wood). Timber as a structural component in new buildings and as part of a retrofit can provide insulation, structural support and, in the long-term, it absorbs and stores carbon dioxide. Lignocellulose can be extracted chemically or biologically and can be used to provide all the products that we currently get from fossil fuels without the environmental cost. This includes food, glass, drugs and chemicals. If trees are grown along linear features, such as roads and waterways (four-square planting), then adequate land can be found.  
8. Use new tools for learning and experiments in relation to climate change resilience. Areas need to be designated for new ideas, so some planning or other rules will need to be relaxed on a case-by-case basis (derogations). The policy lab approach is now mainstream in overseas development. This is where professional ecologists and environmental economists work together to compare ‘with’ and ‘without’ locations in the search for exemplars.
9. Grow a better future: states within states. When a community takes a full share of the land betterment value, the benefits are considerable. A financial model developed in 2018 showed that if 1,000 acres of land were purchased at agricultural prices, and 30 acres were used for a carbon-negative village, then the combined annual rental yield from the houses and the agroforestry enterprises could be £11.5m after year five when the initial loan is paid off. Around 2,500 people housed in 455 dwellings could use this climate change resilience fund to improve and rewild the agricultural land and be in a position to negotiate all services provided by national and local government Essentially this would be creating a state within a state. 
10. Contribute towards a happy treasury and a healthy balance of payments. By using a share in land betterment value, the community can reduce imports (such as fruit, vegetables and timber) and improve the balance of payments. Care costs (a major burden for government local and central) could also be covered to some extent.

My conclusion is that it is time to develop a vision of positive planning based on sound spatial approaches and environmental economics. Any planning policy framework without (1) a climate change and biodiversity core and an understanding of (2) the role of urban agricultural synergy and (3) sharing land betterment value linked to governance reform is hardly worthy of being put out for consultation. I hope the RSA will support the debate and add to innovative thinking.

If we do adopt this model, there will be a greater chance of sustainability restoring the environment and social welfare of all citizens in the face of the climate change crisis and increased threats to biodiversity.  

Steve Newman is Visiting Professor in Agroforestry and Sustainable Development at the University of Leeds and is the CEO of BioDiversity International Ltd.