Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure that any forthcoming planning bill also focuses on creating natural and sustainable spaces in urban developments.

The Government's recently published Levelling Up White Paper referenced some of our ambitions for changes to the planning system, noting that planning is critical to deliver on our objective of levelling up. The White Paper made specific reference to ensuring that natural beauty is accessible to all which will be central to our planning system, with improved Green Belts around towns and cities, supported by Local Nature Recovery Strategies reflected in plan making and woodland creation supported across the UK. The timing, scope and content of any legislation required to deliver these changes is under consideration, and further detail will be shared in due course.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that planning policies and decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by providing net gains where possible, ahead of mandatory biodiversity net gain next year, and acknowledges the importance that green and open space make to achieving sustainable development.

As part of our wider ambitions for an improved planning system we intend to review the NPPF to ensure that it contributes to sustainable development as fully as possible.