THRIVING COUNTRYSIDE SHOULD BE AT THE HEART OF URBAN RENAISSANCE

7 March 2006

A focus on the health of our rural towns and countryside will be essential if we are to continue the welcome revival of our cities.

This was CPRE’s [1] immediate reaction to the publication by the Government today (Tuesday) of the independent State of the Cities report [2].

The report charts the substantial revival in England’s large cities and towns over the last decade.

CPRE’s Head of Planning Henry Oliver commented:

‘This report highlights welcome progress in tackling the long-term decline of our major cities. This has been achieved largely thanks to a strong emphasis on controlling greenfield development and channelling development pressure towards urban, brownfield land. We’re pleased to see the Government renew its commitment to urban renaissance. However, it needs to look hard at four key areas if the success of recent years is to be sustained.’

CPRE wants to see:

• a clear understanding that the future health and competitiveness of our cities, towns and suburbs goes hand in hand with an attractive, healthy countryside and market towns [3];
• urgent work to provide a more coherent national policy framework to tackle the prosperity gaps between the English regions [4];
• a renewed commitment to a robust planning system with a strong focus on developing urban and suburban brownfield sites, with greenfield land used only as a last resort; and
• a rethink of the Government-driven plans for massive greenfield sprawl across the wider South East and bigger and busier airports, which both undermine efforts to promote sustainable development [5].

Henry Oliver concluded:

‘Without a strong planning system the urban renaissance would never have got this far. Yet now the Government risks loosening planning controls and unleashing market-driven planning on our towns and countryside [6]. We urge it to stand by the policies that have served our cities so well, and to strengthen them with new measures to spread the benefits of regeneration to suburbs, market towns and the regions that have yet to see the benefits.

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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 Government published the State of the Cities report on 7 March. This fulfils an undertaking made in the Urban White Paper Our Towns and Cities: the Future (2000). The report is an independent report to the Government.

3. Environmental quality is a key factor in economic competitiveness, yet frequently the countryside loses out in the pursuit of development. Government policy in Planning Policy Statement 1 Delivering Sustainable Development (PPS1, 2005) states: ‘The condition of our surroundings has a direct impact on the quality of life and the conservation and improvement of the natural and built environment brings social and economic benefit for local communities.’ (paragraph 18).

4. Current Government policy is to maximise growth in every region at the same time as reducing the disparities in growth rates between them (PSA2). The result is all too often a ‘race to the bottom’, with the more northerly regions losing out to the pressured south, west and east.

5. The Sustainable Communities Plan (2003) proposes four large growth areas in the wider South East, overwhelmingly on greenfield land. The Air Transport White Paper (2004) proposes to accommodate a huge rise in air transport through more flights and new runways across the country. Both are endorsed by the State of the Cities report.

6. In December 2005, following Kate Barker’s report to the Government on the supply of housing, the Government announced its intention to increase annual housebuilding in England from around 160,000 to 200,000 in 10 years. While it has not accepted Barker’s recommendations wholesale, the recent consultation draft of revised planning policy for housing (PPS3) would weaken the sequential, ‘brownfield first’ approach and significantly increase the role of the market in determining how many houses are built where.

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