Arable land that could grow 250,000 tonnes of vegetables a year has been lost to development, with 300,000 homes built on prime land since 2010. There was a huge increase in “better and more flexible” agricultural land earmarked for housing and industry between 2010 and 2022, from 60 hectares (148 acres) per year to more than 6,000. Policymakers have looked at how land is used in the country, as to address the climate emergency as well as feed people, agriculture needs to become lower-emitting, more productive and increase biodiversity. This means that low-quality agricultural land, which requires more irrigation and fertilizer, may need to be used for infrastructure instead of prime land, which is more efficient for growing food. As well as the risk of development, prime land is also more at risk of flooding, raising deeper questions about food security as Britain faces more extreme weather as a result of the climate crisis. 60% of category 1 agricultural land (more than 200,000 hectares) is within flood zone 3, the areas at highest risk of flooding. CPRE, the countryside charity which published the report, is calling on the government to draw up a comprehensive land use strategy, which will set out what kind of land is used for what purpose, and calls for a ‘brownfield first’ approach to building. It also calls for a strong presumption against development on prime agricultural land. The government is working on a land-use framework which, before Boris Johnson resigned, was due to be published in the coming weeks, but sources at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it could be delayed until the new prime minister comes in. Position. Crispin Truman, chief executive of CPRE, said: “For the first time in generations, our food security is at risk – yet we have seen a hundredfold loss in development of our best farmland since 2010. Heating, food and shelter are fundamental needs. A healthy environment, mitigating and adapting against the devastation threatened by the climate emergency, is the foundation that underpins it all. We need to know what to put where. That’s why we need a land use strategy.” The government recently admitted that the country needs to produce more of its own food in its food strategy. However, to reach net zero and halt the collapse of biodiversity, agriculture must also change to become more sustainable. Experts said that means looking at how the land is used and perhaps making some changes. Truman added: “As we face a cost of living crisis, the housing crisis and our farming sector adjusting to post-Brexit subsidies, we have multiple, critical priorities for our land. We need to move away from intensive farming practices and towards a more ‘multi-functional’ approach, combining food production with better management of natural and cultural heritage and for public access. The policies put in place now will be vital in the coming years to ensure the most efficient use of our land in the face of these challenges.” Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Food charities welcomed the report. Rob Percival, head of food policy at the Soil Association, said: “Decisions about land use are complex and not well supported by government policy. Given the competing demands for food, nature, climate adaptation and social demand for new homes, transport and energy infrastructure, it is important that the government accelerates the implementation of a land use framework. “This framework, promised for 2023, should ensure that land is used for the purposes it best serves, with prime agricultural land being used for agroecology and healthy food production. It’s time to rise to the challenge. The land-use puzzle will only get more complicated as climate and nature crises escalate.”
