A very cluttered country

9 June 2010

Countryside campaigners CPRE are today calling for action to reduce the proliferation of man made clutter that is choking the landscape. The charity argues that our 'Green and Pleasant land' is being lost under a blanket of overhead wires, phone masts, advertising boards, pylons and unnecessary road signs. The government, through encouraging the responsible companies to work together with local communities to tackle these issues, could take a big step towards Prime Minister David Cameron’s vision of a 'Big Society'.

There are more than 52,500 mobile phone masts in the UK and around 3.5 million telephone poles supporting 9,750,000 miles of overhead wires. On top of this there are 200,000 miles of overhead electricity line with all the poles and pylons needed to carry it - 27,000 miles of this cable can be found in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs). CPRE and the RAC Foundation believe up to 70 per cent of road signs in the countryside may be unnecessary. On one road in the South Downs National Park (B3006), there are 300 signs on a seven mile stretch of road, or 45 signs per mile.

Paul Miner, senior planning campaigner at CPRE, said: "Some of these structures are needed, but many are unnecessary and could be scrapped. Insufficient planning control and bad infrastructure management has caused parts of our landscape to look more like a scrap yard then the majestic green countryside.

CPRE is calling for a number of initiatives to help restore the countryside:

Mobile phone masts - Mobile phone network operators are moving on from the network coverage battles of the last decade and companies are doing more to share their masts. Consequently, up to a third of masts are set to become redundant. Companies should now decommission redundant towers, starting in the most visually intrusive locations. Special planning privileges for mobile phone masts are no longer needed and should be removed.

Power lines – Positive work has begun on undergrounding power distribution lines with at least 78 miles of line buried in the last five years. However, there remains 27,000 miles of cable in National Parks and AONBs, much of which could and should be removed. Ofgem has provided an allowance for the past five years and from this year onwards it has become much easier for providers to use this money.

Telephone lines - Ofcom is legally required to have regard to how its activities affect designated landscapes. It should therefore become a partner in the Ofgem electricity distribution undergrounding project in National Parks and AONBs.

Roadside Clutter – A new requirement to audit and reduce clutter would help councils remove unnecessary signage and road markings, and encourage motorists to behave more responsibly through taking more care on the road. Alan Duncan MP in 2007 called for a legal duty to carry out ‘clutter audits’ and CPRE believes now is the right time to address this issue again.

Paul Miner concluded: "When we ask people what they feel most disrupts the tranquillity and beauty of our landscapes - it’s the ugly pylons, masts and advertising boards they point to. Cleaning up this mess only takes a little effort from the companies and councils responsible, and CPRE is ready and willing to help. If they all agree to step up to the challenge, we can start to improve and restore this green and pleasant land, taking a big step towards the 'Big Society' at the same time."

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