Political decisions 'critical to fate of countryside'

---

ePolitix.com speaks to Ben Stafford, head of campaigns at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, about its manifesto launch.

Could you tell us about the Campaign to Protect Rural England's (CPRE) election manifesto? What is its purpose?

The manifesto has been drawn together from the Campaign to Protect Rural England's vision of how we would like the countryside to look in 2026. Given that the next parliament could run until 2015, we hope to be a good way towards our vision for 2026 by the end of that parliament.

CPRE sees the next parliament as a critical opportunity for politicians to give leadership in creating a better countryside for everyone, wherever they live.

The countryside faces a range of threats from development and from climate change, but there are also opportunities, so the manifesto is about urging politicians of all parties to take the right steps to protect and improve the countryside.

Broadly speaking, the manifesto covers three areas. These are 21st century planning, which seeks to develop a planning system that is fit for the present and the future, protecting the human habitat, which is about protecting the best English landscapes and our green belts, and action on litter and fly-tipping. All of these are issues which will be especially important over the next five years.

What is CPRE's Vision 2026? What objectives does the project have?

Our vision for 2026 is an optimistic vision of what we would like England's countryside to be like in that year. The significance of 2026 is that it is the Campaign to Protect Rural England's centenary year.

We know that the countryside faces many challenges from development, neglect, agricultural intensification and climate change. Over the next 16 years there are plenty of opportunities to get things right.

The vision focuses on a number of objectives. There is a focus on quality of life issues such as embracing the beauty and character of the countryside. Better planning is crucial, as is creating stronger rural communities and lots of people visiting and utilising the countryside.

The CPRE recognises that there will be changes to some landscapes, these are inevitable, but we need to ensure that those changes happen in the right sort of way.

Another challenge will be how best to locate sources of green electricity in the countryside.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England considers it crucial that we develop a national consensus about what we value from the countryside and what we want from it. The manifesto is focused on putting some of these ideas into practice over the course of the next parliament and on to 2026.

What ideas does the manifesto promote in terms of town and country planning?

First, we believe that we need to establish a consensus that recognises the value of planning as a vital tool for protecting the countryside, guiding development and driving urban regeneration.

We really want to see politicians restating their belief in these principles because we are concerned that, in recent times, planning has too often been viewed as an obstacle to progress, rather than a way of making things happen in the appropriate way.

More specifically we want all the parties to commit to a stronger urban regeneration and countryside protection agenda. We believe that this can be achieved by backing targets for 80 per cent of new housing and 85 per cent of commercial developments to be built on brownfield land. Over the last few years those rates have been running at more than 70 per cent, so, whichever party forms the next government can afford to be ambitious.

We also want stronger support for low carbon travel through increasing bus, rail and coach use, promoting safer walking and cycling and also ensuring that low carbon travel options are available for rural communities, as well as urban communities – which isn't always the case at the moment.

What conservationist policies does CPRE advocate? How do you recommend protecting Green Belt land?

There are two aspects to this. First we need to protect the existing crown jewels of our landscape, things like the National Parks and the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from inappropriate development.

Second, we need to look after the Green Belt, but also the wider countryside. Green Belt land is often people's first experience of the countryside, but there is a lot of countryside that isn't Green Belt or National Park land.

To protect the countryside, we believe that there should be a broader focus on quality of life issues as a whole- such as tranquillity, which could be much better protected. We also want to see continuing reform of farming policy so that farmers can deliver public goods, like beautiful landscapes and thriving wildlife, as well as food production. Whichever party forms the next government will have a continuing role in negotiating in Europe to develop the farming system to deliver a wide range of benefits.

CPRE also wants stronger resistance to the pressure to alter Green Belt boundaries as a means of allowing urban sprawl. We recognise that the overall area of Green Belt is similar to what it was 10 or 15 years ago, but there has sometimes been a tendency to push the belt further outwards, to enable expansion within it. Whichever party forms the next government should be actively seeking to support local campaigns for new Green Belts in particular areas. Those that we are aware of include Peterborough, Telford, Worcester, South Essex and near Milton Keynes.

How does the CPRE recommend strengthening the network of National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty within England?

Although we believe that there has been excellent work to complete the designation of the original list of proposed National Parks, with the confirmation of the South Downs National Park last year, we do not consider this to be the end of the story. We do believe that there is more that the next government should be doing.

We would like the next government to be supportive of plans to extend the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District National Parks and also of the creation and extension of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the Forest of Dean and along the English border with Wales.

Regarding the existing National Parks, we believe that the most precious landscapes should be no-go areas for intrusive development. At the moment there is much discussion about where major transport, energy and other infrastructure should be located.

Clearly there is a need for certain infrastructure projects in particular places, but it shouldn't be located in places where it can degrade and destroy our most precious landscapes. These are areas that are enjoyed by millions of people and are a crucial part of the life of the nation.

In which ways does the manifesto suggest littering can be combated?

The CPRE believes that the littering laws in this country are pretty good now; we wouldn't suggest making many changes to those. However, despite the fact that there are good laws in place, littering continues to be a problem and it has been getting worse over the last thirty years or so.

To combat littering, we are calling for high-profile national education campaigns, in order to change people's behaviour. We believe that behavioural change is the most important aspect and there needs to be wider recognition that littering is unacceptable. We believe that the next government could help to lead a campaign on that, working alongside businesses, local councils, and others.

The manifesto also advocates all parties supporting a national deposit scheme for drinks containers- plastic and glass bottles and cans. We think that this would reduce litter and boost recycling.

The CPRE also believes that the next government should support local councils in using the powers that they have to tackle litter and fly-tipping. Currently there are a number of variations across the country with some councils doing a very good job and some doing less well. We recognise that councils are facing a difficult time with their resources, but we feel that there is potential to give more support to them, to enable them to do a better job on that.

What other key messages would CPRE wish to get across to parliamentarians ahead of a general election?

We do hope that parliamentarians will find out more about our manifesto that they will read it and support it. We think that this is a critical time for the environment.

Too often environmental and countryside issues get overlooked in the heat of a general election campaign, but we know that they matter to millions of people who are members of environmental and countryside groups.

Parliamentarians should use the forthcoming election to set out a positive vision for the future of our countryside and our natural environment.