Planning news
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Court bid to block third runway
23 Feb 2010Today sees the start of court proceedings challenging the Government’s controversial decision to give the go ahead to a third runway at Heathrow.
A coalition of thirteen organisations is backing the legal challenge. It is made up of local councils, leading green groups and residents’ groups, representing millions of people. The coalition’s lawyers will be claiming in court that the consultation process was fundamentally flawed and that the decision to expand Heathrow is at odds with the UK’s overall climate change targets. If they win, the Government’s decision to proceed with the runway will be overturned.[more] -
Do we have the energy? The future for energy generation and the countryside
22 Feb 2010New power stations are often contentious due to their scale and their environmental and visual impacts. The Government has recently reformed how we plan for nuclear and conventional power stations, renewables, electricity transmission lines and other major infrastructure. This has been one of the most controversial changes to planning in over 60 years and these changes will come into force next week.[more]
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General Election 2010: Make the countryside count
10 Feb 2010‘This year’s General Election is a critical moment for England’s countryside. The promises politicians make now will determine whether the countryside becomes a better, more beautiful and more inspirational place, or is condemned to death by a thousand cuts.’[more]
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Green Belts: More than lines on a map
28 Jan 2010The first major survey of the environmental state of Green Belt land and the benefits it provides for people and wildlife is published today in Green Belts: a Greener Future - a joint report produced by Natural England and the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).[more]
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End of the beginning not beginning of the end of supermarket domination?
13 Jan 2010‘This is an important and overdue step forward in reining in the excessive power big supermarket chains can wield over our food system’. This is the response of the Campaign to Protect Rural England to the announcement today (Wednesday) that the Government will set up a supermarket ombudsman. [more]
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Food security and a beautiful countryside: two sides of the same coin
05 Jan 2010CPRE today welcomed the recognition in the Government’s new food strategy, "Food 2030", of the vital role of the countryside in the future well being of the nation, but cautioned against a return to environmentally damaging intensive farming.
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Planning for housing must not lock us into environmentally damaging decisions
21 Dec 2009In the face of increasingly volatile demographic trends the Government’s household projections should not be used as housebuilding targets if we are to safeguard the countryside from unnecessary development.
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Light pollution survey: is your life blighted by light?
18 Dec 2009Countryside campaigners and astronomers are together asking people to tell us how their lives have been affected by poorly directed or excessive lighting.[more]
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60 years on; a brighter future for our special landscapes?
18 Dec 2009In the 60th anniversary year of the Act of Parliament that gave our finest landscapes special recognition, countryside campaigners CPRE welcome progress to improve their protection. In particular, CPRE welcomed the recent confirmation of the South Downs National Park and the prospect of extensions to the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks.
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Count your money and make it count when buying seasonal food this Christmas
18 Dec 2009The Campaign to Protect Rural England is encouraging people to spend their money locally when buying Christmas lunch this year. Charles Dickens’ three visions of Christmas are a useful reminder of how we have changed our food buying habits in recent years, and what future Christmases could look like if we don’t reconsider how and where food money is spent.[more]
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South Downs National Park confirmed at last!
12 Nov 2009It has been more than 60 years in the making but today sees the South Downs finally becoming England’s 9th and the United Kingdom’s 14th National Park.[more]
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Environmental protection should be at the heart of future regional planning
11 Nov 2009An exclusive pursuit by the Government of economic growth could have dire costs for the countryside, and the wider environment. This is CPRE’s warning as the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill, which reforms regional planning, becomes law this week.[more]
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Local evidence should influence decisions on major energy developments
09 Nov 2009Government policy should not force decisions on major infrastructure projects regardless of evidence of serious environmental harm, or the views of local communities.[more]
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Rural alliance calls for 1,750 pylons to be buried
05 Nov 2009Countryside campaigners CPRE, in alliance with the Campaign for National Parks, Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales and the National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are calling today (Thursday) for the eventual removal of three of the largest and most unsightly lines of pylons in the country, stretching over 350 miles of countryside.[more]
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Stop Knocking Planning: CPRE chief executive challenges the wind industry at its annual meeting
22 Oct 2009Speaking today, Thursday, at the annual meeting of the British Wind Energy Association, CPRE’s Chief Executive, Shaun Spiers, will issue a challenge to the wind energy industry to engage with local people and work within the planning system.[more]
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Warning to new planning commission: we will be watching you
22 Oct 2009The new Infrastructure Planning Commission must champion the environment and the public interest if it is to succeed. We will be watching closely to see how it performs.
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Laying a hedgerow legacy for the future
21 Oct 2009Countryside charity CPRE and the National Hedge Laying Society (NHLS) have set a new standard for hedgelaying. Their first ever national Accreditation Scheme launches at the National Hedgelaying Championships in Herefordshire on Saturday 24 October.[more]
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Disappointment over go-ahead for new coal mine in Shropshire countryside
07 Oct 2009The Campaign to Protect Rural England denounced the decision of the Secretary of State for Communities, Rt Hon John Denham MP, issued today (Wednesday) to allow a massive new opencast coal mine as undermining the Government’s much trumpeted commitment to a low-carbon future.[more]
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Better food by procurement would provide a boost to the countryside
07 Oct 2009CPRE today (Tuesday) welcomed Nick Herbert’s announcement that a Tory Government would lead by example in the sustainable procurement of food. His proposals would raise the bar for government’s food procurement so that it meets British Standards, and strengthens support for British food produced to higher environmental standards.
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Tories should move beyond body counts on way to safer, greener roads
06 Oct 2009The Campaign to Protect Rural England welcomed Conservative proposals announced by Theresa Villiers today (Tuesday) for more traffic police and education to reduce deaths on our roads. But more action is needed to make people feel safe - let alone enjoy - walking and cycling, particularly on rural roads.[more]
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