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A newly formed Rural Coalition, made up of leading organisations which represent rural interests, is calling on the Government to deliver on its Big Society vision by radically empowering local people to shape the rural places in which they live. They are warning that without this action, rural services face meltdown as spending is cut, housing will outprice all but the wealthiest, and rural wages will continue to lag as much as 20% behind urban averages.

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This ‘Brand’ project is about much more than designing a new logo, although that is a consideration. CPRE is exploring the messages and key things about the organisation that people like, while reviewing how it creatively presents itself to various audiences to help gain greater support for the organisation and for the countryside. You can take part in the survey from the link on CPRE’s homepage.

“A more democratic approach to house building is welcome as local people should always be given a say in development. We are pleased that the Government is considering how to protect and enhance rural village life and delivering affordable housing in rural areas will be a critical part of this. However, bypassing the planning process is not the way to deliver it and any proposals should include proper planning scrutiny.

“The level and location of development should be informed by a proper assessment of local housing need and an understanding of whether the local environment can accommodate more development. This capacity should be assessed through democratic local plans and not a simple public ballot.

“A central part of the Government’s wider planning reform proposals is to give local communities a pivotal role in shaping local plans. The Government should focus their efforts on getting these broader reforms right, so that local communities are truly involved in planning for their area as a whole. This, rather than a new Right to Build, should ensure local people are able to shape future development in their areas.”

Read this press release in full…

Read this press release in full…

CPRE gave evidence to the Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee which focused on the need to redraft the Energy NPSs to ensure sustainable development in the countryside.

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Living and working in the countryside is increasingly difficult for many people on lower household incomes. The Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) found in 2007 the average rural house cost 6.8 times the average rural household income. Between 2005 and 2008 rural council waiting lists increased by 11 per cent and in some areas waiting lists more than doubled.

Such a shortage in affordable housing does not just result in unbalanced communities but also affects rural services as regular local users disappear and lower paid jobs go unfilled:

• 13 rural pubs are shutting down each week – almost two every day
• 400 rural shops are expected to close this year
• 62 village primary schools were shutdown between 2004 and 2008. The highest closure rate since the 1990s
• 200 more village schools are projected to close by 2014
• Rural England has lost one fifth of its post office network since 2000.

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“There will not be many tears shed following the scrapping of top down housing targets. In recent years regional plans have too often been misused to impose unrealistically high housing targets on local communities, resulting in frustration and loss of green field sites.

“However, the abandonment of Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS) will leave a worrying gap. Strategic planning has helped ensure local authorities make consistent decisions on development across their boundaries, including affordable housing, public transport and waste provision. These developments need a high level of cross authority working and the Government will need to outline a credible alternative to fill this void.

“In line with the localism agenda, local authorities will be left to decide how many new homes they need and where they should be located. Our branches will be watching closely to see whether local authorities continue to protect Green Belt and other valuable green spaces in line with the new Government’s intentions. We believe it is still vital to focus new home building on brownfield land driving regeneration, supporting vulnerable communities and protecting treasured green spaces in our towns and countryside.”

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“The State of the Countryside report is packed with information about how our countryside and the people who live in it are affected by the warp and weft of everyday life. But this may well be the last such report, given the Government’s recent announcement that its authors, the Commission for Rural Communities, are to be abolished.

“The Government must ensure that this knowledge base – which allows the right decisions to be taken for people living in rural areas – is not lost, and we will be watching to ensure that Defra continues to consider the state of our countryside one of its foremost concerns.

“There are many positives in the report, most notably the relative strength of rural businesses as the economy begins to emerge from recession as well as the continued sense of community enjoyed by people living in rural areas.

“However, the report also highlights some huge challenges that the new coalition government will need to tackle in its first year in office. The continuing shortage of affordable rural housing must be high on the Government’s priority list. We expect Ministers to publish their housing plans shortly and we hope that encouraging local councils to deliver more rural affordable homes will be at the heart of what they look to achieve.”

“As it prepares to reshape the planning system fundamentally, the Government must defend an approach that has encouraged development on previously used land, safeguarded Green Belts around towns and cities and given robust protection to our best countryside in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Weakening these protections could open the way to a future where the public perceive that there is nowhere for them to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.”

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“This announcement will be seen as a victory for local people who will no longer fear the threat of unelected bureaucrats forcing through unwanted development. Decisions on major infrastructure projects will in future by taken by Ministers. This is something we have been calling for since the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) was first proposed.

“We recognise the importance of planning decisions being determined in a timely fashion. However, we want to ensure that the ‘fast-track’ process results in effective decision making, taking account of all the relevant evidence and allowing local communities to feed in their views. The need for speed must not compromise the quality of planning decisions.

“We now want the Government to go further and confirm their proposals to balance rights of appeal and allow local communities the right to appeal against questionable planning decisions, a right that currently only developers enjoy.”

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