Land-use planning, permaculture and the transitivity of 'development'

Land-use planning in England and Wales has been reluctant to embrace grassroots 'low impact development' projects, which are often based at least in part on principles of permaculture. This reluctance, and the planning system's concept of sustainable development, are examined against the wider global background of development discourse and politics. Development, particularly when understood as a transitive process, has routinely frustrated people's efforts to 'dwell in the land'. This has often been justified by appeal to the alleged detrimental effect of human presence on valued landscapes, and/or to a perceived imperative to make agriculture more efficient.