There's a term over here called 'NIMBYism' which basically stands for Not In My Back Yard. People lobby against turning fields into farmland and/or building travel links etc.

The UK is 98% non-residential and we have a lot of untouched arable land.

Granted, we have to import many foods because we simply can't produce them here but we could be doing more to be self-sustainable in food production.

We also depend on Norway and other countries for energy. Unlike, say, the US which is self-sustaining and produces all its own energy. We have a lot of wind farms (UK is an island so is perfect for wind) and produce a lot of household electricity but it's not enough for the country's entire energy needs.