The desecration of rural England: Outrage over hit list of British Beauty spots Earmarked for Eyesore Development
Campaign to Protect Rural England says 30 areas considered for development
- South Downs, Yorkshire Dales and Lake District under threat
- One of worst affected areas is High Weald, which runs through Kent, East Sussex and Surrey
By Sanchez Manning
Daily Mail: 26 October 2013
Britain’s National Parks and beauty spots are under ‘unprecedented threat’ of being built upon due to the Government’s relaxation of planning laws, campaigners will warn tomorrow.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) says that more than 30 formerly protected areas are being considered or approved for large scale housing projects or developments which could leave a permanent scar on the countryside.
More than ten National Parks face being blighted by construction schemes, while designated Areas of Outstanding Natural beauty (AONB) across home counties such as Kent, Essex and Sussex are also at risk, campaigners say.
Ashdown Forest: The Sussex beauty spot of Crowborough, in the High Weald area, is under threat. A scheme to build 200 new homes on three sites in the town is being considered by Weald District Council but has sparked major opposition
Applications to build on ‘so-called protected areas’ have increased rapidly since the Government reformed planning rules in March last year, making it easier for developers to get permission to build.
CPRE president Sir Andrew Motion is expected to call on the Government to look again at the policy changes and consider providing extra protection for the most beautiful countryside.
They say among the National Parks under threat are the South Downs, the Yorkshire Dales, Dartmoor and the Lake District. More building work is also planned to take place in a large number of AONBs in the North Pennines and Surrey Hills.
Iconic: The White Cliffs of Dover could also see development. Farthingloe and the Western Heights are part of the famed area. 521 homes, a 90-apartment retirement village, health centre, hotel and conference centre were given the go-ahead in June
A number of the homes are proposed to be built around historic towns and villages such as Cranbrook and Hawkhurst in Kent.
Meanwhile, some 200 of the properties may be erected in the East Sussex town of Crowborough on the doorstop of Ashdown Forest where A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh books are set.
And a controversial housing development in the historic rural village of Long Preston in the Yorkshire Dales – home to just 300 residents – received planning permission earlier this month.
The CPRE’s Neil Sinden said: ‘The National Parks and AONBs are judged to be the most beautiful landscapes and they’re what people think about when you talk about the countryside. We’ve gathered dozens of examples of large scale development in these locations. It’s the biggest single threat to the so-called protected areas for decades.’
Mr Sinden said the balance has decisively tipped in favour of the developers and ‘because of these recent planning changes the scale of the pressure is unprecedented’.
He urged the Government to act on the CPRE’s report, saying: ‘We’re trying to raise the profile of this unprecedented level of threat to our most treasured countryside.’
But a spokesman for the Department of Local Government and Communities, which formulates national planning policy, rejected the CPRE’s claims calling its report ‘misleading’.
He said: ‘Strong planning protections remain in place for National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The best way to support this is to ensure local people who know their areas best are included in decisions about their future.
Source:
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