Draft London Plan 2026: Sustain's response

The Draft London Plan 2026 seeks to balance ambitious housing targets with economic growth and climate resilience. Sustain supports a plan-led approach to these challenges. However, the plan largely fails to address one of the most significant risks arising from climate change: food insecurity. Extreme weather events are already affecting food production around the world, while disruptions to trade, energy and farming inputs continue to affect food prices and availability. The Draft Plan weakens the strategic treatment of food growing, healthy food environments and community food resilience compared with the current London Plan.

In this response document, Sustain is calling for the final London Plan to restore a coherent strategic approach to food. In the context of upcoming and well-documented threats to food security, spatial planning in London must factor in the essential infrastructure and land use that will enable community food response and a diversified supply chain. It should reinstate a clear commitment to food growing at least equivalent to current Policy G8 and strengthen policies that build a local and resilient food economy: protecting peri-urban farmland, existing growing spaces, markets and independent healthy food retail; providing affordable land and premises for growers, processors, caterers and community food enterprises; and safeguarding the infrastructure needed for local processing, wholesale, storage, refrigeration, distribution, community kitchens, food hubs and emergency food provision. Food growing and food-system assets should be planned as core green, social, economic, health and resilience infrastructure, not optional additionality.