Policy

 

These policy statements have been developed by CPRE nationally and provide a framework from within which we operate. However at a local level it may be necessary to adapt to local circumstance, and therefore please take these statements as a broad outline of our views on certain types of development, but not an rigid policy.

Forestry and Woodlands
Forests and woodlands in England cover about 7 per cent of the land surface; we are the second least wooded country in Europe. The Government has expressed a desire to significantly increase the amount of tree cover in England over the next 50 years. Forestry is an important form of land management and a valuable 'natural' and renewable resource in its own right...

Housing
New housing is responsible for the loss of more rural land than any other form of built development - over 50% of annual losses - and much new development has been unnecessarily intrusive and poorly designed...

Minerals and Quarrying
CPRE believes that it should be recognised that society's need for a high quality environment is as important as its need for minerals. Changes to minerals planning policy are necessary if sustainable development is to be achieved...

Major Retail Development
CPRE considers current trends in the location of retail development to be environmentally unsustainable. Notwithstanding some recent useful policy changes urgent action is needed to reverse current trends and increase the role of town centres and urban areas in the provision of shopping facilities...

Telecommunications
CPRE is concerned that the countryside is suffering unacceptably and unnecessarily as a result of telecommunications development. Whilst having no objection to the creation of national telecommunications networks, CPRE wishes to see this take place with minimum impact on the countryside...

Transport
Over the last 20 years the distance travelled by car has increased by 55% while walking, cycling and bus travel have all declined dramatically (20%, 25%, and 38% decrease). As a result, traffic levels have increased significantly and the Government forecast that traffic could increase by a further 36% - 84% by the year 2031. Traffic levels on rural roads are set to rise more quickly than urban areas and could treble in some areas...

Wind Turbines
Current patterns of energy consumption are responsible for some of the most serious environmental issues we face. From the destruction of cherished landscapes due to opencast coal mining through to the release of greenhouse gases and acid rain and the production of radioactive waste, many current methods of meeting our energy needs have severe environmental costs...

Urban Policy and the Countryside
Many of the conflicts in rural areas over new housing, roads and commercial development are the result of urban pressures which could often be better met in urban England. The countryside cannot carry the weight of the continuing dispersal of people, jobs and development from our cities, especially when so much land and building is going to waste in urban areas. We need to bring a new approach to city life and provide a positive alternative to those tempted to leave for the countryside - a high quality urban environment in which to live...

Agriculture
Over 80% of England is farmland, and the ways in which farmers manage their land has an obvious and overwhelming influence on the quality and character of the countryside. Agriculture has shaped the countryside for thousands of years and continues to do so today...

Waste
Households in England and Wales produce 26 million tonnes of waste each year, of which nearly 90% currently goes to landfill sites. The amount of land affected by land filling waste is set to increase. It is already difficult to get more than 10 miles from a landfill site in central and southern England and the cumulative impacts of landfill and changes to the local landscape are damaging communities and the distinctiveness and sense of place in rural areas...

 

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