One year of Labour: has Starmer delivered for the countryside?

One year ago, Labour won the general election promising major change. We asked the government to recognise the value of the countryside by tackling the climate emergency, fixing the housing crisis, and supporting farmers to grow the food we eat. One year on has it delivered?

The wrong targets for the countryside

Labour set out to tackle the housing crisis by setting a target to build 1.5 million homes, reforming the planning system and building new towns.

We welcomed the target of 180,000 social homes over 10 years, announced this week — it’s a step we long called for. The government has also embraced a ‘brownfield first’ approach with Brownfield Passports and is consulting on ways to speed up development and bring SME builders back into the market. Yet the brownfield first approach needs more teeth if green fields are not to be the first choice for housing developers.

‘Affordable’ still lacks a meaningful definition linked to local wages. Worse, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill (PIB) threatens to reduce the power of planning committees to decide on planning applications, putting local democracy at risk.

Rooftop revolution?

CPRE recognise the need to reach net-zero emissions and support Labour’s pledge to deliver clean power by 2030. That’s why we’re calling for the government to get smart on solar with more strategic delivery through better community engagement and publication of the long awaited Land Use Framework.

Tackling the climate emergency doesn’t need to come at the expense of our best quality farmland. Yet projections in the Solar Roadmap show that of the solar capacity installed by 2030, around 60%-65% could be large-scale solar farms.

The consultation on ensuring all new outdoor car parks have solar panels is welcome as part of a ‘rooftop revolution’ heralded by the commitment to solar on all new homes. But we still lack targets for how much solar energy should be delivered on roofs.

Still time for a vision for planning

We’ve joined conservation groups including Wildlife and Countryside Link in sounding the alarm about new Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs) in the PIB that risk ‘speeding up’ planning at nature’s expense. Add to this a ‘grey belt’ policy that will undermine protections for the Green Belt. And yet there’s still time for the government to re-think its approach to land use.

With more pressure on our countryside than ever to deliver homes, infrastructure, energy and restore our natural environment – we urge the government to think strategically about through how to balance these competing demands on our finite land. With a vision for planning for people, planet and future generations, Keir Starmer can still deliver for the countryside.