Gardens, parks, churchyards, allotments, cycleways, rivers, ponds, canals, street trees and green roofs are all familiar green spaces interwoven into our towns and cities in the South East, providing vital natural environments and corridors linking people and wildlife to the wider countryside.
To ensure we retain and enhance these green assets, the Government’s South East Regional Spatial Strategy, otherwise known as the SE Plan, published in May, includes a specific policy promoting the importance of green infrastructure (GI) planning and requiring local authorities to ensure delivery. Today’s new South East Green Infrastructure Framework from the eight organisations supports the policy.
Today’s new South East Green Infrastructure Framework is a toolkit to help put policy into practice. It shows that the benefits of green space reach beyond that of simply providing places in which to relax, play and unwind; they perform a multitude of other functions – as important habitats for wildlife, managing flood water and helping to fight the effects of climate change.
The Green Infrastructure Framework is for everybody involved in the design and development of the South East. It is also a useful resource for designers, planners and other interested parties enabling them to find the tools, evidence and case studies needed to keep green spaces at the top of the agenda.
Regional Minister for the South East, Jonathan Shaw, endorses the Framework and says:
“Green space is a vital component to the way we work, rest and play and has proven health benefits. This document is very welcome in the issues that it addresses including some of my key priorities for the region including sustainable housing and the provision of necessary infrastructure to deliver it. If adopted, this document will make a real difference to the lives of people across the South East.”
Sir Terry Farrell, leading architect and urban designer, also endorses the Framework. He says:
“This new Framework is essential planning guidance for South East Local Authorities and planning partnerships. It will enable those who make decisions for, and live in the region, to work towards a shared vision for their surroundings.”
The organisations which have jointly published this Framework are:
- Natural England, Environment Agency
- Government Office for the South East
- Forestry Commission
- Wildlife Trusts in the South East
- Groundwork, and
- the South East England Partnership Board, which comprises the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and Local Authority leaders.
Together they are endorsing the South East Plan in calling for the creation of networks of multi-functional greenspace. These networks should be identified in regional and local plans and designed into all major new development and regeneration schemes from the outset. They will include existing green spaces and new sites, surrounding the built environment and connecting the urban area to its wider rural hinterland. This needs to be delivered at regional, sub-regional, local and neighbourhood levels, accommodating both accessible natural green spaces within local communities and often much larger sites in the urban fringe and wider countryside.
They add that development expected in the South East during the next two decades poses real challenges for both our environment and the people who live and work within it. Effective planning and delivery will help accommodate new development in a region which already has the highest population density outside London.
