Countryside battle
For more than 50 years the planning system has balanced the need for new buildings and houses with those of the environment and local people.
But the new national planning policy framework contains a ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ which, as ministers are reluctant to tell anyone what ‘sustainable’ might mean, looks like a default ‘yes’ to development.
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Hide AdLocal people will find it increasingly difficult to campaign against unsustainable development, nor will we get any appeal; greenfield sites will be concreted over.
These are hardly the actions of a government aspiring to be ‘the greenest government ever’.
I am supporting the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) in fighting these changes, and they have helped me send a letter to my MP asking ministers to reconsider.
I urge anyone else who wants England to remain a green and pleasant land to do the same by visiting www.cpre.org.uk
Philip Mortimer
Elfin Grove, Bognor Regis