From December 2025 to March 2026 the government held a major consultation on potential changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The consultation aimed to accelerate housebuilding, prioritise development on brownfield land, reintroduce mandatory housing targets, and introduce a ‘grey belt’ land designation for development.
Richard Burden, our Principal Landscape and Planning Officer, was part of the small working group drafting the response from the National Landscapes Association. He says:
“Many environmental organisations feared that the NPPF consultation was simply a governmental stalking horse for making it easier for the volume house builders to gain planning permissions rather than getting more houses actually built.
“There have been widespread concerns that the protections for National Landscapes (NLs) in the current NPPF would be significantly weakened if the consultation version became the approved version. It wasn’t the easiest consultation to respond to as there were over 200 questions, and many points of concern to the National Landscapes were not covered by the questions.”
The key points from the CCNL submission are:
- CCNL welcomes the proposed Spatial Development Strategies (SDSs) with a strong recommendation that both landscape character and the Protected Landscapes (National Landscapes, National Parks and the Broads) should be specifically identified as key elements of SDSs.
- It strongly advises retaining the ‘great weight’, ‘conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty’, and ‘highest status of protection’ of the current NPPF 189.
- CCNL also strongly recommends retaining the presumption that major development in a protected landscape (PL) would be refused other than in both exceptional circumstances and the national interest embodied in current NPPF 190.
- We would like to see a more robust application of the ‘5 units or fewer’ threshold for the provision of affordable housing [NPPF 65] in PLs, and a clearer emphasis on reducing light pollution [NPPF 198c].
- CCNL is very concerned that the focus on development near railway stations will be misunderstood and, based on our experience, there is a need for positive provision of car parking at railway stations to facilitate greater use of sustainable transport, especially in rural areas and towns where there is a substantial rural catchment.
Richard also added his views to the final question, ‘do you have any final thoughts…?’:
- National Landscapes are outstanding, iconic landscapes whose distinctive character and natural beauty are so precious that they are safeguarded in the national interest. They are of immense value to the nation, offering a wide range of public goods and services.
- CCNL is very aware that it was a Labour government that brought in the fundamental legislation in 1949 that established the National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty to protect the nation’s finest landscapes. It was also a Labour government that produced the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 which established the concept of NL Management Plans and the funding for NLs.
- CCNL does have considerable concerns about the dilution of the clear messaging of the current NPPF regarding the importance of protected landscapes in the draft consultation version, through both individual points and cumulative impact. It would be ironic if a Labour government in seeking to progress another of its aims were to undermine its previous, and highly valued, achievements.