Member News
28th December 2010
The Campaign to Protect Rural England looks back over the policy decisions that have affected its work in 2010.
This time last year, Bill Bryson, president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) was meeting the three main party leaders to discuss their vision for the countryside. A year on, much has changed in our political landscape, but our countryside, and the beautiful landscapes that so many of us enjoy, continue to need protection.
During the election campaign CPRE members and supporters were very active in contacting their candidates, and many signed up to CPRE's manifesto. We were delighted that commitments to abolish the Infrastructure Planning Commission, introduce a third party right of appeal in planning, produce a white paper on the natural environment and tackle our litter problem were all in one or more of the Labour, Liberal Democrat or Conservative manifestos.
The planning system has always been a key tool for protecting our environment, and CPRE has been engaging with MPs and peers on the government’s radical planning reform and localism agenda. We support moves to give local people more say in shaping the future of where they live and work, but believe that the introduction of a limited 'community right of appeal' is crucial to ensure that development is in line with the vision set out by local people.
Before the election Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both pledged to give communities this right of appeal. Now the bill has been published, we will be working with like-minded MPs and peers to urge the government to honour this pledge.
Our Stop the Drop anti-litter and fly-tipping campaign got off to a flying start in the new Parliament. In September we published new research that details the economic, social and environmental benefits a UK-wide bottle deposit scheme would provide. At PMQs David Cameron said that the government will investigate if a scheme can be taken forward, and we look forward to the results of its review of waste policies in the spring. Litter rates continue to increase, and conventional solutions haven’t yet provided the answer. The government needs to commit to radical action now to tackle the problem.
The change in the way we are generating our energy also poses a significant threat to the English countryside. Government and the National Grid are planning for many new lines of overhead pylons, which put some of our most beautiful landscapes at risk. Thanks in part to the pressure of CPRE and local action groups, National Grid announced it was reviewing its policy on undergrounding new lines last week.
We want to see its policy changed so that undergrounding of transmission lines becomes a reality not just in urban areas, but in rural areas too. See Terence Blacker's article in the Independent for more: http://ind.pn/dPA4tw
This year we also launched a new report on the protection and extension of our hedgerow network, which is currently protected through the Hedgerows Regulations. We support the government's move to see if red tape can be lifted from farmers, but regulations also help to provide important protections, and any changes must not be at the expense of the environment.
Finally, over the year CPRE has been engaging with ministers and officials on the High Speed 2 proposals. We support the principle of new rail capacity but are very concerned about the way the HS2 proposals are currently being progressed. Now that a route is being consulted on, we will be assessing the government’s plans against our tests for high speed rail.
So, whether on housing and planning, energy, rural or transport policy, 2010 has been a busy year for CPRE – and all the signs point to a busy 2011 too!
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