Planning Help Compaign to Protect Rural England

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AONB site protected (Purbeck and Poole)
CPRE Purbeck and Poole objected strongly to a planning application to build 1,000 houses between Hill View Cemetery and Worgret Manor near Wareham, Dorset, because the development would increase the population of Wareham by 40%, add to traffic problems and add to occasional flooding in nearby areas.

In addition, the site is within the AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty) and the proposed development would contravene the Purbeck local plan and the local Arne plan. The site was natural heathland until the last war and it has been suggested that such marginal farmland would be better reverted to heathland by English Nature or RSPB.

Arne Parish Council and Wareham Town Trust held three well-attended public meetings where members of the public were unanimous and vociferous in their objections. Letters of objection were received from four neighbouring Town Councils. Further objections were received from us, Wessex Water, the Environment Agency, English Nature, Dorset Wildlife Trust, RSPB and many others.

The developers withdrew their application prior to submission.

Blackdown Hills saved from the bulldozers (Blackdown hills)
In December 2004, a beautiful and tranquil area of countryside was saved when the Government rejected plans to dual the A303 through the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The area had been under threat from road building for years.

This breakthrough came from tireless work on all fronts, influencing decisions via the media and by lobbying Government, at local, regional and national levels.

A major transport study was commissioned by the Government, and its report was considered by a transport panel of the South West Regional Assembly. CPRE worked to influence that study, highlighting the unacceptable damage that would be caused to the Blackdown Hills - with good result: the panel rejected that option.

Unfortunately, the full assembly ignored the panel's report and called on Ministers to approve the scheme. CPRE, at the national level, saw this as a test case. We commissioned a report that demolished the case for dualling and worked with others to raise media interest in the campaign.