What are the issues for 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.

The reasons for CPRE taking a growing interest in urban planning and development are illustrated by the following statistics:

 

CPRE priorities

CPRE believes that we can make much better use of our urban areas so that they accommodate more development in ways which improve the urban environment and protect the countryside. Cities lie at the heart of the agenda about environmentally sustainable development. All serious commentators recognise that cities are the most environmentally sustainable way of housing large numbers of people and providing factories, offices, shops, leisure facilities and all the other things society wants. Cities are better places to build than the countryside. They use less resources, save land, reduce car dependence and can improve the environment. A new commitment and new policies aimed at improving the urban environment is needed not only to improve the lot of city dwellers but also to take pressure off our increasingly vulnerable countryside.

Cities also place an enormous burden on the countryside. They consume land, demand water and construction aggregates, produce waste and provide a focus for commuters. Unless we understand and tackle the problems which emerge as a result of these pressures we will never get to the root of many of the countryside's problems. A key focus for environmental policy must be to reduce the 'footprint' that our cities place on the countryside.

There is much more scope to adapt the existing urban fabric to our needs and reinvigorate the suburbs than is often assumed. Planners need to review their approach to encourage mixed development at higher densities and remove obstacles, such as minimum density policies and parking standards, which obstruct the refurbishment and conversion of existing building to better uses. A growing number of 'urban potential' studies show that the number of houses being built in urban areas can be significantly increased without causing environmental harm. New approaches to transport and better integration with land use objectives to unlock additional capacity and opportunities are needed. Businesses and property investors should recognise the economic value of underpinning long-standing investments in the town centre. The public and community groups need to press policy makers harder: highlighting the problems; drawing attention to the opportunities and celebrating the positive things about city life.

Central Government has a particularly important role to play and needs to provide a much stronger lead. It is remarkable that there is no national planning guidance for our major urban areas despite the fact this is where most people live and most planning decisions are made. The Government should also provide the financial carrots and sticks necessary to complement planning policies and steer development away from green field sites and towards brown field ones. Private owners hoarding land against the public interst should be stung by new financial penalties. Local authorities should be provided with the resources and mechanisms necessary to overcome problems of deriliction and land ownership in regeneration schemes.

 

Campaign opportunities

 

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