The government should set legal duties in levelling-up legislation so that developers and public bodies provide equal access to nature-rich green and blue spaces for everyone. This is just one call set out in a letter to levelling-up Secretary Michael Gove, signed by more than 60 organisations, including from the nature, planning, health and equality sectors.
… calls for culture to be ‘embedded’ in the government’s levelling-up white paper…
Wildlife & Countryside Link writes:
For many people, disparities in living standards and inequality of opportunity are apparent from the very moment they open their doors and step outside.
The most affluent neighbourhoods are often the greenest, where families can enjoy the physical and mental health benefits of access to parks, woodlands and waterways.
By contrast, poorer communities and people from ethnic minorities are far more likely to be cut off from our natural world, living in a degraded environment, where it is hard to feel pride of place. The experience of lockdown has only magnified this longstanding inequality.
The decline in UK wildlife has also been hastened by the fragmentation of ecosystems and by the continuing unsustainable development and intensification of land use. The loss of thriving green and blue ecosystems is a problem for nature itself, as well as for people’s connection with nature.
We have come together from a wide range of sectors and interest groups—experts in nature, public mental and physical health, access and equality—to ask that you take three important steps to level up access to nature, which was missing from the “missions” in your White Paper:
- please make equitable access to a high-quality natural environment (in urban, rural and coastal environments) a key measure of success for your levelling up agenda;
- establish a new legal duty in forthcoming planning legislation for developers and public bodies to ensure equitable access to wildlife-rich green and blue spaces in new and existing communities; and
- help to fund improvements in access to nature, including extending the Levelling Up Fund, DLUHC’s place-based funds and national infrastructure investment to green infrastructure projects.
There are already reliable measures of access to greenspace, such as Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Standards, which can be used to measure success. However, existing guidance and Local Authority funding has not been sufficient to reshape our communities in a fairer and greener image, despite the many advantages greener communities would bring for public mental and physical health, local pride, active travel and climate resilience.
Change can come in many ways. The creation of high quality, safe and accessible green and blue spaces and routes in our towns and cities is an essential element in successful placemaking and urban development. The protection and enrichment of more biodiverse, well-connected and accessible places in the farmed landscape will benefit many rural areas. The solutions will be place-specific and varied, but we are certain that they will not be found unless the importance of equitable access to nature is recognised in law and placed at the heart of the levelling up agenda.
Success in creating a fairer country and in halting the decline of wildlife by 2030 will depend on restoring and enhancing nature near to people in every corner of the country. Of course, getting this right could bring billions of pounds of savings for the NHS, help sequester carbon and reduce flooding, inspire people to protect nature, and improve people’s health, happiness and prosperity.
Nature-rich cities and towns are also much more attractive places in which to invest, to create businesses and jobs and to study. Cities across the world are putting nature and climate at the heart of their future growth strategies with inspiring results; the UK needs greater ambition and commitment if our cities are to compete on a world stage.
We hope very much that you will make levelling up access to a wildlife-rich environment central to your tenure at DLUHC and that you will put in place the legal duties and funding needed to achieve it.
Yours sincerely,
Craig Bennett, Chief Executive, The Wildlife Trusts
Hilary McGrady, Director General, National Trust
….[and others]
