Embed nature recovery into the planning system, The Wildlife Trusts urge

New houses must be green, The Wildlife Trusts have told the government in a new report.

Swift and wild: How to build houses and restore nature together called for:

• Strategic and nature-centric planning – a joined-up approach to housebuilding that complements nature recovery and balances competing demands on land. The report said the planning system should always avoid causing harm to legally protected areas, and argued that a new land designation, Wildbelt, should protect land of low biodiversity value specifically for nature recovery.

• Climate action through development – improving energy efficiency by retrofitting homes and embedding features like solar panels, rainwater harvesting and green roofs can reduce emissions and bills, while benefitting health, wellbeing and wildlife. 

• Nature-rich neighbourhoods – integrating nature into new developments provides multiple health, social and environmental benefits including reduced air pollution and better protection from flooding. New developments should help to connect nature reserves and other important areas for wildlife and ensure that everyone can access green space within 15 minutes.

Becky Pullinger, head of land use planning at The Wildlife Trusts, said: “We cannot afford to treat nature, climate and housing as entirely separate issues. By embedding nature recovery into the planning system, we can tackle these challenges together and build homes that are energy-efficient, affordable and playing a meaningful part in restoring nature. Historic developments in the wrong place are partly responsible for habitat loss and pollution, which have contributed to massive declines in wildlife. The UK Government is right to be ambitious about building houses and green energy – it must also show equal ambition for restoring nature.”

The government has pledged to build 1.5m homes over the next five years.  

• The 50 Litre Home Coalition has published A roadmap to operationalise the water-energy-carbon nexus for homes – a concept which considers the interconnection of water, energy and carbon emissions, highlighting the interdependencies and trade-offs involved in the management of these in a domestic setting. The paper, produced in partnership with Arcadis, provides an implementation-focused action plan, drawing on a Los Angeles pilot. This involves technical interventions, behaviours and policies/regulations to drive scalable improvement.