To mark World Mental Health Day, Lanpro’s director of design Mark Topping explores the impact of preserving green spaces in planning to support better mental health
World Mental Health Day on 10 October is a reminder that wellbeing is shaped not only by personal circumstances but also by the environments in which we live. Research by Natural England shows that people who spend just two hours a week in nature report significantly better mental health, while the World Economic Forum reports that trees can help reduce the need for antidepressants among city dwellers and Forest Research shows that visits to the UK’s woodlands save £185m in NHS costs annually due to the power of trees to boost mental health.
Those of us shaping new communities therefore have a role to play in supporting good mental health. Places that integrate parks, woodland edges, wetlands and walking routes do more than meet biodiversity and drainage requirements – they actively improve lives. Thoughtful green and blue infrastructure can reduce loneliness, encourage physical activity and create calm in otherwise dense urban settings.
While many developments still treat the landscape as an afterthought, at Lanpro we believe that embedding landscape architecture, ecology, arboriculture and heritage assets at the earliest stages is not only environmentally and commercially sound: it is also vital to creating places where people can thrive mentally as well as physically.
Prioritising environmental consideration in design may yield better outcomes for occupants
Few would disagree that new development is at its best when it works in harmony with the natural environment, retains a strong connection with nature and provides attractive open spaces which feature mature trees and hedgerows.
And yet many new developments fail to achieve this. I believe this is partly due to previously consented schemes being built out. However it is also the result of some developers failing to understand that this is attainable and failing to involve landscape architects at an early stage in the planning and development process. Those who do consult with a landscape architect, on the other hand, are frequently surprised to find just how attainable, and beneficial, a landscape-led approach can be based on an environmental parameters approach to master planning.
Green infrastructure-led schemes are those which use best practice landscape architecture principles as a starting point. The fundamentals of the natural landscape – lines of hedgerows, mature trees, woodland, natural water courses and topography – then inspire the scheme in a way infinitely preferable to a flattened site or blank sheet of paper.
Developers must understand the value of preserving existing green spaces
To assume that this in a non-commercial approach is quite wrong: there is ample research and examples demonstrating that mature natural environments benefit the value of property in addition to expediating the planning process and supporting health and wellbeing. The recent introduction of biodiversity net gain into all planning applications considerably raises the value of the natural landscape as a component of any development and the approach enables natural elements to be used strategically.
For example, removing a mature copse and delivering 110% of its biodiversity value would require a significant amount of replanting, at a significant cost; whereas retaining it comes at little cost if planned. In this case and many others like it, the landscape-led approach benefits the environment, society, the planning application and the commercial viability of the scheme both in terms of construction work and the built scheme.
Furthermore, a thorough understanding of the natural landscape means that the ‘red line’ can be drawn with greater understanding of financial implications. A parameter-based approach which respects the natural fabric of the site can embed appropriate buffers into the design framework and enable a carefully considered balance between environmental constraints and commercial requirements to achieve a sustainable development. This approach, if well planned and pragmatic, can maintain or increase areas best suited to development while protecting areas of high/higher ecological value. This invariably leads to reduced construction costs and BNG requirements, allowing BNG to be delivered on site (in most cases) while retaining an attractive natural boundary to the scheme that is likely to thrive post construction. It also adds value to properties.
Considering planning in supporting mental health is like ‘reading the landscape like a book’”
Just as you wouldn’t read the first few pages of a book and jump to the middle, you need to consider the approach to the landscape as you progress through the many stages of development. Understanding environmental considerations at the outset can considerably reduce the cost of construction work – for example the need to create SUDS, adapting the course of a stream; planting a large number of young shrubs due to having removed a mature hedgerow; or creating new habitats for wildlife because original habitats were destroyed. The risks of removing natural footpaths (specifically Public Rights of Way), vegetated waterways and higher grounds which provide sensitive views are, it goes without saying, best avoided.
Therefore it follows that appeals for such schemes are generally successful because it can be demonstrated that the development will cause minimum harm to the natural landscape and visual sensitivities.
The main challenge to this approach is when a decision is taken to utilise its benefit at too late a stage in the development process. Inevitably, the relatively new requirement for biodiversity net gain has given rise to issues of this nature. While natural solutions can be found part way through a planning application or even post-planning, the rule of thumb is that the earlier the landscape-led approach is deployed, the greater the savings and the better the scheme.
As the government increasingly allows development on the Green Belt, an approach to development which shows sensitivity towards the natural environment will invariably be favoured by planners, while also bringing about much wider benefits.
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