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ID sylw: 107279

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Cotswolds National Landscape Board

In principle, the Cotswolds National Landscape (CNL) Board agrees with the approach laid out in Draft Policy Direction 39.
The principle of environmental net gain was embedded in Government policy in the Government’s ‘25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment’, published in 2018, in which it pledged that we would be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than that in which we inherited it.77 This principle is maintained in the Government’s Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) 2003, which is the Government’s first revision of the 25 Year Plan.78 The production of the EIP and annual reviews of the EIP is a legal requirement, under the Environment Act 2021.79
In the context of the CNL, a key component of delivering environmental net gain will be to meet the ambitious targets that are set out in the Protected Landscapes Targets and Outcomes Framework (PLTOF).80 The new CNL Management Plan 2025-2030, which was adopted by the Board in February 2025, sets out these targets and outcomes specifically in relation to the CNL.81
Achieving the PLTOF targets and outcomes is a key component of fulfilling the statutory duty to seek to further the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the CNL.82
We recommend that Draft Policy Direction 39 should set a requirement for development in the CNL to contribute to achieving the PLTOF targets and outcomes that are set out in the CNL Management Plan.
We also recommend that the supporting text should make reference to the EIP and to the PLTOF.