Speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference, Mr Stewart called on fellow panel members - representing the National Farmers’ Union, National Trust and Campaign to Protect Rural England – to create a collective vision for the country.
He said: “We must have quite sophisticated, open and honest discussions about the kind of country of which we dream, and what our ambitions really are for Britain…
“What I really want to do, if I’m lucky enough to have this job over the next five years, is to try to draw people into a proper conversation and really put everyone in a room and get them talking.”
The MP for Penrith and the Border added that whilst the Government had its role to play, he would like to see leadership from experts in the field.
“This doesn’t need to be about increasingly rigid legislative frameworks or targets or spending, although those things may come into it. It’s above all an act of faith, it is an act of the imagination and it is an act of trust. It is those three things that we are badly lacking in this debate at the moment,” he said.
Adding his support for greater collaboration, the National Trust’s Simon Murray said: “It’s no good us just turning round and bashing government to sort things out, I think it behooves us to put our voices where our sentiments are.
“It is up to all of us to demonstrate the value that we place on our countryside, because at the moment it is not looking very good and we all need to rise up and work together to make Britain a more productive, beautiful and culturally rich environment.”
Mr Murray suggested that whilst the public and policy makers are “nostalgic” about Britain’s landscape, “we don’t follow through on that nostalgia,” with robust safeguards.
“We are in the process of trashing it,” he said, through industrialised farming and development.
Taking a different view on the affect of farming, was Director of Policy at the National Farmer’s Union, Andrew Clark, who championed the role of the industry.
“I am unapologetically pleased to see that the countryside is used for producing food. When we talk about the value of landscape, the landscape that we have in the UK is a farmed landscape.
“I think there is a real danger that if we keep that landscape in aspic we could lose the very cultural value and aesthetic that we see now,” he said.
Mr Clark also warned that the farming sector was facing a “crisis in production” and must improve its productivity and competitiveness.
This must be a central theme, he added, in the Government’s Food and Farming 25 year plan – an industry-led initiative which will set out ambitions for the UK’s farming industry.
Stressing the importance of implementation, CPRE’s Shaun Spiers said: “I think we need a proper framework for thinking strategically about how we use the land.
“A 25 year plan for nature may be a start, certainly if it joins up with the 25 year plan for farming, but it really needs to be owned by the whole government, not just by one department.”
“There is actually something to be said for the Scottish government, which has a land use strategy for Scotland, and it is a real attempt to get a framework for thinking about these difficult decisions and how we can reconcile different interests.”
Mr Spiers also highlighted the need for greater devolution of planning powers, saying “the Government’s commitment to localism needs to be strengthened.”
Bringing proceedings to a close, Mr Stewart concluded: “The only way we are going to be able to build political support over the next 50 years for our landscape – whether it is farming, landscape, nature – is by engaging people from quite a young age.
“We really need to draw people into these landscapes. It is good for your health but above all it is good for your soul.”