Briefing: aligning planning policies for nature

This briefing summarises a longer report on the changes needed to the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to ensure that it aligns with England’s existing Land Use Framework (LUF).

It describes how better policy alignment could support the delivery of multiple goals for housing, infrastructure, climate, nature, food and water.

We make four main recommendations

1. Restore the balance between economic, environmental and social goals, to achieve the aim of sustainable development.  
2. Adjust the method for calculating local housing need to avoid unachievable local targets that trigger a presumption in favour of speculative development.  
3. Strengthen nature protection to meet statutory biodiversity targets to halt and reverse species loss and protect 30% of land for nature conservation by 2030.  
4. Restore mechanisms to enable meaningful local democratic input and accountability in plan making and planning decisions.