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Local democratic outcomes for farming, nature and land use – a trial  

The new UK Government promised that more decision-making will be devolved to local communities. With many pressures on our land and the growing impact of climate and nature loss, new approaches to decision-making that help tackle competing demands is greatly needed.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust supported a government-funded trial that explored what a ‘local approach’ to decision making on land use strategy might look like. This blog explores what they found…

After years of meetings, public engagement, papers and principles written to influence thinking and policies, a new land-use strategy went undelivered by the previous UK Government. Now, the new administration has committed to producing a Land Use Framework (LUF).  

Alongside this commitment, there’s also been several promises that devolution will be applied to decision-making, transferring 'power from Westminster to rural communities'. In addition, we now have a rapid review of the Environment Improvement Plan, a consultation on a new planning framework, plus 48 Local Nature Recovery Strategies that will, in theory, go live next year in England.  

The multiple land pressures  

New policies will have a major impact - from GB Energy and housing targets to environmental land management schemes. So, how do we address the competing demands – nationally, regionally and locally to: 

  • produce enough, nutritionally based and affordable food 

  • restore nature, deliver Local Nature Recovery Strategies, with nature- friendly farming and land management in a just transition 

  • deliver on national and local land use needs for climate and energy production including nature-based solutions (for floods, droughts etc) 

  • provide more - and safe - public access to green spaces and for recreation 

  • create the infrastructure needed for businesses including new local food supply chains? 

And all at pace...   

Multifunctional land use that achieves many of these outcomes in the same space will be key. Food production fundamentally needs nature restoration and action on climate change. Damage to the environment is slowing UK growth, undermining prosperity and could lead to an estimated 12% reduction in GDP (see blog from Environmental Change Institute).  

But currently there is no efficient governance regime in place to secure the multi-functional outcomes expected of most land management, so that it can achieve a win-win for nature, climate, people and food. To address this, Defra’s Tests and Trials Team has been exploring options for local governance of land management schemes, which included a pilot in Hampshire to trial a new approach involving local collaboration and decision making.   

Many questions were on the agenda for the new ELM Convenor Hampshire Partnership,  including the feasibility of establishing a locally-based Advisory Board to support UK Government in delivering the Environment Plan and at a reasonable cost, whilst also being effective in delivery and monitoring the outcomes. The new pilot Board comprised of nine people and was chaired by an independent, non-voting member. Members represented organisations including CLA, NFU and Southern Water covering the private sector; the National Trust, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and CPRE covering the voluntary sector; and Cabinet Members from all tiers of local government covering Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Health and Wellbeing. Farming representatives were on the Advisory Board and an approved programme of involvement with the industry was established, including the Tenant Farmers Association, farm clusters and Facilitation Fund Groups, individual farmers, their agents and professional advisors. The trial also included an online survey circulated to a selection of farmers and agents to inform decisions by the Advisory Board.    

How did it go?  

The pilot showed that a local board offered an effective way of integrating both local and national government needs, whilst helping to transform the culture and relationship between the public and private sectors. One clear success was the willingness by all involved to work collaboratively to transform the way the English countryside is managed, with every decision made by the Board having achieved unanimous agreement.  Notwithstanding this, they did find some challenges to local governance including the huge diversity of landscapes and topography, and identified that for local initiatives to be successful, any schemes offered must provide a strong framework and finance, with support from both the private and voluntary sectors ultimately being beneficial in achieving national objectives. 

The recommendation coming out of the pilot was that Advisory Boards like that in Hampshire are rolled out across the country and that the National Character Areas map is used as a base to form the framework for setting out local agendas. It also recommended accountability of public investment needed to be improved, so everyone can understand the benefits being delivered locally.    

The pilot stressed the need to empower the farming industry to secure multi-functional outcomes from the way land is managed and the establishment of a new Business Planning Framework that provides baseline values of food production, water quality, soil health, ecosystems and resilience.    

These findings mirror many of the requirements that The Wildlife Trusts stress are vital through their work on Local Nature Recovery Strategies and in farming. 

We need the new UK Government to take note of these findings - and if its promise of devolved decision making and delivery is to be lived up to - it needs to ensure policy support and finance for these outcomes at a landscape scale.

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