Alongside farming, land use planning is one of the most significant mechanisms for effecting both positive and negative change in the nature conservation resource of the UK. In the 2003/2004 financial year 675,000 planning applications were processed by local planning authorities in England. Many of these applications will have had the potential to make positive contributions to the nature conservation interest of its surrounding area and it is important that these opportunities are maximised.
Please note: This Research Report was accompanied by the following caveat.
This research was published after the publication of the Governments response to Kate Barkers recommendation on a Planning Gain Supplement (PGS), but was actually carried out in late 2005, ie before the details of how a PGS might operate were available. It does not take account of the Government’s response and proposals for a PGS, and is instead based on Entecs assumptions about how a PGS might operate.