The Live Wire



Press Release

Government could be risking environmental disaster

9 June 2010

Following a written ministerial statement today by the minister for decentralisation, Greg Clark MP, on the government decision to remove gardens from the definition of brownfield land and to scrap minimum housing density standards Shaun Spiers, CPRE chief executive, says:

"One of the biggest yet unsung environmental successes of recent years has been the regeneration of many of our urban areas, which has also saved vast swathes of countryside from unnecessary development. Brownfield targets and density standards have been instrumental in protecting valuable countryside, preventing urban sprawl and regenerating inner cities.

To make these changes now could undermine the sustainable use of land and leave the English countryside under the threat of sprawling new development."

“We support powers being returned to local people and many of the new governments proposals for planning. But it is essential to have a robust national policy framework which gives a clear steer that development should be focused on brownfield land and that this should be used efficiently. By stripping out this guidance Ministers risk a policy vacuum that puts our countryside at risk."



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