Countryside campaigners CPRE [1] are today (Wednesday) launching a survey on the future use of the Green Belt, the countryside surrounding Bristol and Bath. The survey is being carried out by Sustain. [2] Local MPs are encouraging people to participate.

The survey is one of the first steps CPRE is taking to deliver our manifesto for the countryside in 2026. [3] The Vision calls for a countryside that provides more beautiful landscape, tranquillity, wildlife, recreation opportunities and fresh food. The Green Belt has an important role to play in achieving this.

Through the survey we aim to get the views of people who live in inner city areas of Bristol and areas nearer to the Green Belt. We’re also keen to involve people who live in, own and/or manage land in the Green Belt. We are asking people to contribute to the survey before the end of July. [4]

The survey comes at a time when large areas of the Green Belt are threatened with development. Regional planners are calling for major new housebuilding in a number of locations around both cities. Expansions of Bristol Airport and the Port of Bristol are also planned. [5] The Government is also now carrying out a high level study reviewing whether Green Belts are fit for the future. [6]

Hilary Severn, chair of CPRE Avon, said:

‘The Green Belt around Bristol and Bath offers these cities a vast range of benefits. But which of these are the most important? The Green Belt is the countryside next door to around a million people, from the inner cities to the outer suburbs. We particularly want views from people who are concerned about the future of Bristol, Bath and their countryside, but who don’t join environmental groups or respond to planning policy consultations.’

Roger Berry MP (Labour, Kingswood) said:

‘The Green Belt is incredibly important. I very much welcome this survey and would encourage as many people as possible to respond. This is a really effective way of telling decision-makers what you want and what you expect them to do.’

Don Foster MP (Liberal Democrat, Bath) said:

‘I would strongly encourage the people of Bath to get involved in this survey. Most importantly, this is a chance for people to have their say on how they use their local countryside and what they want from it in the future.’

Dr Liam Fox MP (Conservative, Woodspring) said:

‘I strongly welcome this survey. The protection of the Green Belt is a vital component in maintaining quality of life in North Somerset.  We cannot fail to leave the next generation that which we have so cherished ourselves.’

Hilary Severn concluded:

‘By taking part in our survey, the people of Bristol and Bath can send out a strong statement that they value their surrounding countryside and want to get more from it in future.’

INFORMATION FOR EDITORS

Online versions of the survey, and pdf versions can be found our Green Belt campaign pages. There are different survey forms for the general public and for landowners and managers.
> Green Belt campaign: survey

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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: Bill Bryson. Patron: Her Majesty The Queen. www.cpre.org.uk

The survey forms part of CPRE’s Green Belts for a Greener Future project. The project has been made possible by a grant from Rufford Maurice Laing, www.rufford.org.

2. In Bristol and Bath the survey is being co-ordinated by Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming, www.sustainweb.org.

3. For more details of CPRE’s 2026 – A Vision for the Countryside go to: campaigns: 2026 – A Vision for the Countryside

4. The survey invites people to think about whether we use the Green Belt to encourage wildlife through better land management; support local farming through buying and marketing locally produced food; or create more pathways, cycleways, and woodland, as the Forest of Avon has already been doing since 1992. CPRE will analyse and report the findings in autumn 2009. We will use the information nationally to input to the current Government study on the use of land across England, and locally in our work with local authorities on the future planning of how we use the Green Belt.

5.  The South West Regional Spatial Strategy is due to be published in June 2009 and will set the overall amount of new housing to be built across the region, which includes the former county of Avon and all neighbouring counties in England. To date the draft RSS has proposed that land in a number of general locations around Bristol (Dundry, Emerson's Green, Filton, Kingswood, Lulsgate, Portishead and/or Whitchurch) and Bath (Odd Down or Twerton) be released for major new housing or new transport infrastructure development. From July until October 2008 the Government Office for the South West consulted on the RSS, which received a record number of consultations responses (around 35,000) for a consultation of its type. Many of these responses expressed concern about the level of new housebuilding being considered and, in particular, the impact it would have on the Green Belt.

6. The Government think tank UK Foresight is currently carrying out a study titled ‘Land Use Futures’. The project website indicates that Foresight is likely to look carefully at Green Belts, whose primary purposes include preventing urban sprawl and protecting the countryside from encroachment. For example: ‘The Town and Country Planning Act 1947 … established a land use model which makes a clear distinction between urban and rural land use that is largely unaltered today. The extent to which such historical imperatives shaping land use patterns and practices are still relevant today will be explored in the project, including whether the containment strategy that separates town from country so sharply continues to be appropriate and whether the frameworks underpinning current structures and patterns deliver socially desirable and environmentally sustainable outcomes for the future.
>  Foresight website: Land Use Futures – Summary of the process and outputs from the scoping phase