Land Use Planning Working Group
Chair: Victoria Bankes Price, Woodland Trust
Vice Chair: Brendan Costelloe, RSPB
Secretary: Kate Hand
The Land Use Planning Working Group acts to conserve the natural and historic environment by seeking improvements to the national planning system for the benefit of biodiversity and landscape. The group works to ensure that the reform of the planning regime in England helps to deliver better protection and enhancement of the natural environment as a key component of sustainable development.
Update from the group:
Meeting with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)
Link met with the DCLG on 23 April to discuss guidance, particularly around local plans, sustainability appraisal and the Duty to Cooperate. The meeting covered the need for coherence across the guidance suite so that different policies are linked together to enable planning for an ecological coherent network. Link also highlighted the fact that valuable existing guidance should be retained, and that the new website for guidance - which Link welcomes - should make links to all appropriate sector guidance. DCLG noted that the Government will only be providing planning practice guidance where it is best placed to do so and that best practice guidance should be provided by the sector.
New Chair
Paul Miner will be stepping down as Chair of the Land Use Planning Working Group, we would like to thank Paul for all his hard work and commitment to the group. We are very pleased to welcome Victoria Bankes Price from the Woodland Trust as the new acting Chair of the group.
Last updated: 30 April 2013