Land Use Framework – have your say

24 February 2025

Environment and climate
English countryside landscape with barns and a river

Photograph: Realimage / Alamy

The government has launched a consultation on its ‘Land Use Framework’. Your feedback will be key to ensuring any land use change delivers for British agriculture, with a focus on food production. Fill in our online form before 11 April to feed into the NFU’s response. 

The Land Use Framework for England aims to support decision making on how we use our land.

The Defra consultation looks at the type and scale of potential land use change required for a range of commitments including food production, improving climate resilience and restoring nature, as well as new infrastructure and housing.

It is part of the government’s growth agenda and the Land Use Framework will support land managers and other decision makers to deliver a combination of these benefits.

The Land Use Framework will also be the first in a series of government land-based strategies alongside the Farming Roadmap, a revised Environmental Improvement Plan, a Food Strategy and the Carbon Budget 7.

NFU President Tom Bradshaw shared his views: “With competition for land ever increasing, and to deliver on the government commitment that food security is national security, we must have a land use plan in place, underpinned by sound science and evidence, that has British food at its heart and ensures we make the best use of our most productive agricultural land.”

Now we would like to hear yours.

Have your say

The consultation is running for 12 weeks until 25 April and will seek the views of farmers, landowners, businesses and nature groups through a series of workshops to develop the final framework.

Defra says the consultation will provide decision makers with the data they need to protect the most productive agricultural land, boosting Britain’s food security in a time of global uncertainty and a changing climate.

You can feed into the NFU’s response by filling in the below form. Deadline for responses: 11 April. You can also jump further down the page to read about the proposals in more detail.

Members of our environment and climate community can also head over to the ‘Have your say’ page to start a conversation.

Fill out my online form.

31 January 2025

Government launches consultation on Land Use Framework

Our countryside is predominantly an agricultural landscape – 67%, but farmers are overwhelmed by competing / conflicting demands on their land, including the needs of agricultural production (food and non-food), for leisure and recreation, requirements for biodiversity net gain, protected landscapes, and the need for economic and residential development alongside national strategic infrastructure.

While this consultation does address several concerns that the NFU had raised in advance, it contains some tough proposals and questionable assumptions that we will want to challenge.

Key considerations

The NFU welcomes stated commitments from the government, such as: “The primary purpose of farming will always be to produce food to feed the nation.”

Also that the Framework “is not intended to be used to bind decision makers or prescribe land uses in specific places”.

However, we are conscious that there are competing demands, such as meeting statutory environmental targets, including tree cover and habitat restoration/creation targets that may take precedence.

In addition, there is a proposal for 9% of UAA (Utilised Agricultural Area) to be taken out of agricultural production by 2050 (for activities such as restoration and maintenance of peat habitats, woodland, etc), which is a key concern.

See the table below.

Added to this, Defra assumes that the level of food production can be maintained or even moderately increased alongside land use changes, which we question.

  Land management/use change Resulting outcome Estimated amount of land of UAA to 2050 across Environment Act Targets and Net Zero
Category 1 Land management change
e.g. cover crops, reduced fertiliser use		 Food production Not in scope
Category 2 Small changes maintaining the same agricultural land use e.g. field margins, buffer strips next to rivers Food production 1 % (50 kha)
Category 3.1 Changes in agricultural land use, for both food and env / climate benefits
e.g. mainly about agroforestry, alongside food production		 Food production & env / climate benefits 4 % (370 kha)
Category 3.2 Changes in agricultural land use, mainly for env / climate benefits, limited food production
e.g. creation/restoration of species-rich grassland habitats, planting of miscanthus and short rotation coppice		 Env / climate benefits
& non-food agricultural production		 5 % (430 kha)
Category 4 Change away from agricultural land, for env / climate benefits
e.g. tree planting, creation/restoration of heathland habitats and restoration/maintenance of peatland habitats		 Env / climate benefits 9 % (760 kha)

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