Protected Landscapes Threatened As Never Before

30 August 2006

England’s nationally protected landscapes are under greater threat than ever from development, new research by CPRE [1] reveals today (Wednesday).

CPRE’s work shows that even the jewels in the crown of the English countryside face the prospect of serious damage, as the assault on the rules that protect our precious countryside gathers momentum.

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CPRE’s Threat List [2] highlights nine examples of threats, and the associated Threat Marks the Spot map [3] illustrates the nationwide spread of the threats. Both are attached.

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‘The whole basis on which the nation’s most beautiful countryside is there to be enjoyed by us all is called into question by a series of damaging proposals,’ said Tom Oliver, Head of Rural Policy at CPRE.
‘Protected landscapes are only protected to the extent that the Government and local authorities obey their own rules. Time and again, it appears that the Government or a local council is tearing up the rules when a significant conflict arises between one of our finest landscapes and another interest. We have to ask “What is the point of having laws that protect our precious countryside if they are ignored when it really matters?”’
Threat has already become reality with work starting on the A590 High and Low Newton Bypass this month. The bypass got the go ahead despite running for its entire length through the Lake District National Park.
‘The Government and all local authorities should show leadership in the sustainable use of land and honour the protection afforded to nationally designated landscapes. These are aims the Government set itself by designating the landscapes in the first place [4]. We urge the Government to stand by them now,’ Tom Oliver concluded.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. CPRE, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is a charity which promotes the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England. We advocate positive solutions for the long-term future of the countryside. Founded in 1926, we have 60,000 supporters and a branch in every county. President: Sir Max Hastings. Patron: Her Majesty The Queen.

2. The Threat List is attached and lists nine examples with a brief overview of the development and the threat for each one.

3. The Threats Marks the Spot map is attached and illustrates where each of the nine Threat List examples, and there associated designated landscapes, are located.

4. ‘PPS7: Sustainable Development in Rural Areas’ (ODPM 2004) states that ‘Major developments should not take place in these designated areas, except in exceptional circumstances’ and that development ‘proposals should be demonstrated to be in the public interest before being allowed to proceed’. Applications have to include an assessment of the following : ‘(i) the need for the development, including in terms of any national considerations, and the impact of permitting it, or refusing it, upon the local economy; (ii) the cost of, and scope for, developing elsewhere outside the designated area, or meeting the need for it in some other way; and (iii) any detrimental effect on the environment, the landscape and recreational opportunities, and the extent to which that could be moderated’. Where development is allowed it should be ‘carried out to high environmental standards through the application of appropriate conditions where necessary’.

National Parks and AONBs have been designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, as amended by the Environment Act 1995 and the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

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