• Welcome recognition for ‘natural values’ of the environment
• Undervaluing natural benefits risks unnecessary conflicts in South East

The RSPB and the CPRE have broadly welcomed a government report, launched today (Friday), which highlights the many challenges facing the use of land in the UK in the 21st century.

However, the two conservation charities are concerned that sections of the report assume that a conflict between the value of undeveloped land, and the value of built development in the South East, is inevitable. They believe analysis of the costs of development undervalue the environmental goods, such as an accessible natural environment rich in biodiversity, that this part of the country provides.

Sir Graham Wynne, Chief executive of the RSPB, said: "It’s great that we’re seeing the government taking a strategic view across land use as a whole in the UK. And we’re pleased to see that rewarding land managers for the delivery of wider public benefits is high on the agenda.

"The broad scope of the report clearly recognises the importance of the natural services, such as flood protection and clean air, which our environment provides. It also touches on the needs to protect nature for nature’s sake in our use of land – a belief that will resonate with our million members.

"However, all of these gains are potentially undone by the example of built development in the South East. Any analysis of this part of the country, and the pressures it faces, needs to take account of the difficult to measure values of a beautiful landscape rich in wildlife, and all the natural services such an environment provides. We must not forget the significant degradation that the environment in this part of the country has already experienced, such as the dramatic and destructive loss of our heathlands.

“In failing to adequately recognise these values, the report conflicts with its own stated aim of considering the needs future generations may have from land."

Shaun Spiers, Chief Executive of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said:

“Beauty, tranquillity, birdsong, a sense of place – these all have a value which is not captured by the market.  Without an effective planning system to ensure that the priceless things that people value are not ignored, a market-led approach to development would threaten natural beauty and unspoilt countryside.

 “Future pressures mean that land needs to deliver multiple benefits – something that we have recently highlighted with our Green Belts: a greener future report, which shows how Green Belts already deliver much more than containment of urban sprawl, and how they can be improved in the future.

“While much of it is very valuable, the report ignores some of its own insights in drawing on narrow evidence concerning the impact of housing and transport development on the character and tranquillity of the countryside – and the value that people place on them.”

Sir Graham Wynne and Shaun Spiers concluded:

“We hope that the Government takes on board the genuinely important strategic insights in the report without becoming distracted by its narrow economic analysis of the housing market and transport costs.”