Clearview National February 2018 - Issue 195 | Page 10

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Call for nature-
friendly housing
New guidelines published by The
Wildlife Trusts show how new housing
developments can be built in a way
that provides people with greener,
inspirational homes which help to reverse
decades of wildlife and habitat decline.
» » ‘HOMES FOR PEOPLE
and wildlife - how to build
housing in a nature-friendly
way’ is published at a time when
the government has recently
committed to building a further
300,000 homes a year until 2022.
This means that about 36 square
miles will be given over to new
housing developments annually –
that’s an area larger than Brighton
& Hove every year. The Wildlife
Trusts believe that the natural
environment must be put at the
heart of planning in order to
give the government a chance of
meeting its commitment to be
the first generation to leave the
environment in a better state than
we found it, and to build new
homes and communities that
people enjoy living in.
Rachel Hackett, Living
Landscapes Development Manager
for The Wildlife Trusts says:
“A huge challenge lies ahead
– thousands of new houses are
to be built yet we need to restore
the natural world. We’re calling
on the government and local
authorities to build beautiful,
nature-friendly communities in
the right places. Over the past
century we have lost natural
habitats on an unprecedented
scale. Yet nature has its own innate
value. It also makes us happy and
we depend on the things that it
gives us. Our new guidelines show
that it’s possible to have both, so
people can enjoy birdsong, reap
the benefits of raingardens which
soak up floodwater, and plants
that bees and other pollinators
need to survive. With good design
the costs of doing this are a tiny
proportion of the overall cost
of a housing development, but
represent a big investment for the
future.”
The Wildlife Trusts are calling
for the current focus on numbers
of new homes to be replaced by a
visionary approach to where and
how we build.
Rachel Hackett continues:
“We should prioritise places for
new housing that are already
well served by infrastructure. We
should avoid destroying wildlife
sites and locate new houses in
places where they can help to
restore the landscape and aid
natural recovery. It’s possible to
create nature-friendly housing by
planting wildlife-rich community
green spaces, walkways, gardens,
verges, roofs, wetlands and other
natural features. These gains for
wildlife improve people’s health
and quality of life too.”
The Wildlife Trusts’ blueprint
for new nature-friendly homes
highlights the myriad of social,
environmental and economic
benefits of this approach:
• Benefits for wildlife – better
protection for wildlife sites,
more space for wildlife,
improved connectivity and
buildings that are more
wildlife-friendly
10 » F EB 2018 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
Urban Meadow, Exeter.
Photo by Emily Stallworthy.
Woodberry Wetlands.
Photo by Penny Dixie.
• Benefits for residents –
daily contact with nature,
improved health, protection
against climate extremes,
safer transport routes, good
sense of community
• Benefits for the economy and
wider society – cost-effective
environmental protection,
employment, space to grow
local food, healthier and
happier communities putting
less pressure on health and
social services
• Benefits for developers –
satisfied customers, market
value, enhanced brand,
improved recruitment,
improved environmental
ranking
‘Homes for people and
wildlife - how to build housing
in a nature-friendly way’ and
case studies can be read at http://
www.wildlifetrusts.org/living-
landscape/planning/housing-and-
nature.