To ask the Minister for Infrastructure how his Department is supporting the development of green infrastructure, such as urban green spaces.

My Department’s Regional Development Strategy (RDS) 2035 recognises the need to protect and encourage green infrastructure, such as parks, green spaces, and street trees within urban areas. The RDS also supports urban renaissance and seeks to ensure that environmental quality in urban areas is improved and maintained, particularly with adequate provision of green infrastructure.

The Strategic Planning Policy Statement (the SPPS) which sets out my Department’s regional strategic planning policy on a range of matters also recognises the important role of the planning system and green infrastructure in helping to mitigate and adapt to climate change by, inter alia, working with natural environmental processes, for example through promoting the development of green infrastructure and the use of sustainable drainage systems (SuDs) to reduce flood risk and improve water quality.

Given my Department’s broad functions and responsibilities in relation to water, transport and planning, I am committed to ensuring that it continues to play an appropriate supporting role in the provision of blue and green infrastructure, recognising the present resource challenges faced.