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Our national office has launched a report with detailed new maps showing that 55 per cent of England’s countryside could be at increased risk from development as a consequence of the Government’s reforms of the planning system. This equates to an area almost three-and-a-half times the size of Wales.

Excluding areas with nationally recognised designations, such as National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), as well as Green Belt, we found that the majority of England’s countryside could be at increased risk of development and urban sprawl. For decades English planning policy has recognised the intrinsic value of the wider countryside, including undesignated areas. The draft National Planning Policy Framework, which is due to be finalised shortly, omits this policy.

In Doncaster, the figures confirm what we've has long feared.

The Doncaster map clearly illustrates how 42% of land in the borough will be unprotected if the National Planning Policy Framework goes ahead as it is. The east of Doncaster is still not protected by green belt. If the NPPF goes ahead unchanged then areas that are valued by local communities will be at even greater risk from speculative building and development.”

There is much loved – but undesignated countryside – across the whole of South Yorkshire. We want to see the Government recognizing its value. We don’t want a national policy that prevents all development, but we do want decision makers to take account of the intrinsic value of our countryside for its own sake when they are considering development proposals in the future.
 

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A series of new guides and events are now available to help lead you through the planning labyrinth and explain the latest Government reforms to the English planning system. Three new pocket guides make it clear how you can influence the future of the area in which you live. They detail how you can contribute to both neighbourhood and local plans, and describe how to respond to planning applications.
 
There is also a new free eLearning programme which includes short courses that examine the step-by-step processes outlined in the guides using real world scenarios.

A series of local training events being run across the country by local branches of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the National Association of Local Councils (NALC). The events are taking place between now and the end of March.

 
CPRE knows that the first contact many people have with the planning system is when something they don’t like is proposed on their doorstep. But we want people to understand why they should get involved in the planning system before something like this happens. In this way engaging with planning can be a positive experience. We want people to help shape their communities proactively and be a part of deciding what changes they want to see in their area. Following the recent planning reforms, the best way to do this is by contributing to their local and neighbourhood plans.

The Guides

How to respond to planning applications: an 8-step guide

A 61 page A5 booklet that gives an easy to follow, step-by-step guide to responding to a local planning application. For many this will be the first time they come into contact with the planning system. This guide aims to make the process simple, straight forward, and help any submissions to have the largest and most effective impact.

Planning Explained

A 69 page A5 booklet that gives an introduction to the planning system and explains why it is important if you want to help decide the future of your community. The guide focuses on the role of Local Plans, where the big decisions on planning for the future of communities and land are made. It includes an eight step guide on how to get involved and contribute to your local plan.

How to shape where you live: a guide to neighbourhood planning

A 61 page A5 booklet that focuses on the role of Neighbourhood Plans. It explains their purpose and gives a simple eight step guide on how to start drafting an effective Neighbourhood Plan.
 

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We need you to help us map light pollution during national Star Count Week - starting this Friday 20 January.

Along with the British Astronomical Association’s Campaign for Dark Skies (CfDS), we at CPRE are asking people to take part in the 2012 Star Count Week between Friday 20 January and Friday 27 January. 
We need you to count the number of stars you can see within the constellation of Orion. The results will help create a 2012 Star Count map, illustrating how light pollution is affecting the view of the night sky across the UK.

Light pollution might not perhaps seem to be the most pressing environmental problem in South Yorkshire, but it is really significant. It damages the character of our countryside, and blurs the distinction between towns and country. Light pollution disrupts wildlife and can badly affect people’s sleeping patterns. It also denies people the experience of a dark, starry sky.

Information gathered during the 2011 Star Count week last January showed that the proportion of people taking part in the survey who are living with severe light pollution increased from 54 per cent in 2007 to a new high of 59 per cent. Only eight per cent of participants could see more then 20 stars and just one per cent of people had truly dark skies, seeing 30 or more stars.

The Campaign for Dark Skies will use information from the Star Count survey to measure the extent of light pollution. It wants to use the evidence to convince Ministers and local councils of the need to take action to tackle it, for example by ensuring that the correct lighting is used only where it is needed and when it is needed. This would cut light pollution, reduce carbon emissions and save money at the same time.

Recently, more local authorities have been seeking ways to deliver their services more efficiently, and there is also growing awareness of the impact of poorly designed street-lighting. Switch off or dimming schemes for lighting, in consultation with the police and local people to ensure that there are not adverse impacts on safety, can be effective. Redesign of lighting to ensure it is better targeted on where it needs to be also saves energy, money and our long-term view of the night sky.
 
It is simple and easy to take part in Star Count Week 2012 and you can sign up for an email reminder to take part. Full instructions are available on the CPRE website www.cpre.org.uk/starcount.

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We're welcoming today's call by a cross-party committee of MPs for ‘significant changes’ to improve the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). These suggested changes reflect many of our aspirations for the final policy.

The report shows a strong cross-party consensus that the role of planning is to treat economic, environmental and social needs equally, not to favour short term economic growth at any cost. The Government must now make substantial changes to its proposed planning policies if we are to get the efficient, locally oriented and environmentally sensitive system we believe Ministers want.

In the report the MPs

• call the document ‘unbalanced’ in favour of economic growth alone and call for the removal of a proposed default ‘yes’ to all new development
• state that the Government’s proposed ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ could undermine local plans
• call for a stronger definition of sustainable development, based on the UK’s Sustainable Development Strategy
• highlight the ‘inevitable risk’ of more countryside being lost in the absence of a clear policy of developing brownfield (previously developed) sites before greenfield.

The draft NPPF, consulted on during the summer, sparked major interest and controversy, with over 14,000 public responses. Despite this, Ministers have said they do not propose to hold a second consultation in 2012. The MPs see a strong case, however, for a further short consultation with planning practitioners.

The MPs also criticise the ‘unhelpfully vague’ wording of the draft document. The Government claimed that condensing over 1,000 pages of current policy to just 52 would provide simplicity and clarity. The MPs instead conclude that the draft NPPF ‘does not achieve clarity by its brevity.’

We all want to see a return to a healthy economy. The Government will not achieve this by putting the countryside at risk of poor quality development and undermining cities by allowing greenfields to be built on before brownfield land. We think the Committee's conclusions are considered and well-informed and we urge the Government to respond positively. Otherwise we risk returning to the unsustainable development of a generation ago, when an area of countryside three times the size of Stevenage was built on each year.
 

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We've just delivered a five foot postcard - and a petition signed by over 600 people - to Nick Clegg today, demanding that the Government radically rewrites the draft National Planning Policy Framework. We believe that the draft NPPF puts all our countryside in danger.

Thank you!

So thank you very much to everyone who has supported our campaign so far. We've had some good coverage including stories in the Yorkshire Post and Independent, and really hope that our lobbying will make a difference.

We’re calling on Nick Clegg to stick to his green principles, and make sure that the appalling changes to the planning system don’t go ahead as they are. In particular we want the draft NPPF changed so that it

• protects our countryside for its unique beauty and value
• no longer promotes economic growth over protecting our countryside
• prioritises developing brownfield before greenfield land

We've also asked to meet Nick Clegg so that we can talk to him about local people's concerned about the impact of these planning changes on our countryside. Much of Sheffield's beautiful Green Belt land that protects the Peak District National Park is in his Hallam constituency. We also want to see him use his influence as Deputy Prime Minister to make sure the draft NPPF is changed.

Meanwhile, we've written to South Yorkshire's 13 MPs asking them to put pressure on the Government to rewrite the NPPF. 

Still time to make a difference

The Government is expected to publish the NPPF in January or February 2012. So there's still time for you to write to your own MP and ask them to speak out against these changes, and save our countryside!

MPs tell us that the most effective letters are those written by individuals, so it's best to write from the heart telling them how your local countryside could be affected by these proposed changes. If you prefer, you can edit or use the model letter - but please try to personalise it.

The photo shows Isabella Stone, Chair of CPRE South Yorkshire, and Carol Robinson, Chief Executive of CPRE South Yorkshire, handing over the postcard to Nick Clegg’s office.

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