1. The future of the South West region will soon be clearer.  The Panel’s report on the Examination in Public (EiP) of the draft Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) for the South West of England is expected to be published on Thursday 10 January.  CPRE [1] sets out below what it will be looking for in the Panel’s recommendations for the final RSS.

2. The South West [2] is already the fastest developing of the English regions, with over 20,000 new homes currently planned each year across the area, placing huge pressures on the environment. Achieving more sustainable development is a major challenge for the region.

3. The RSS will replace the existing Regional Plan (RPG10) and County Structure Plans. It will set housing levels for all the districts in the South West for the next 20 years and other regional policies to inform local plans (Local Development Frameworks) and planning decisions.

4. CPRE was the only non-governmental organisation and environmental body invited to all the sessions of the 10-week EiP of the draft RSS, which ran between April and July 2007. Our team included over 20 volunteer members from our branches and regional group.

WHAT WILL CPRE BE LOOKING FOR?

Priority for affordable homes
5. CPRE wants to see a significant increase in the proportion of affordable homes delivered in the region in the future with no overall increase in new housing allocation. Well under 25% of new homes currently provided in the region are affordable. Our analysis for the EiP indicated that providing excessive amounts of open market housing will not deliver significantly more affordable homes or help first-time buyers. Public funding is the major limiting factor – and increased funding, promised this autumn, would still deliver less than the proposed draft RSS target of at least 7,500 new affordable homes per annum. 

6.  CPRE’s consultants showed at the EiP that the increases of over 28,000 new houses overall per annum being advocated by some is based on ‘top of the range’ statistical and economic assumptions. We argued that a more cautious approach is required to respect environmental limits.

Urban renaissance with good neighbourhood design
7. CPRE supports the draft RSS proposal that the focus of new development should be on the region’s main cities and towns – there would still be plenty of housing allocated to rural districts – but we raised concern at the pace and scale of development proposed. We proposed that the final RSS should have more guidance to ensure an orderly approach to development to prevent ‘cherry picking’ of greenfield sites, with increased emphasis on regeneration and more efficient use of brownfield sites and vacant buildings to minimise the need for urban extension.

8. We suggested that policy on higher density housing should be linked more closely to that on design to ensure that new neighbourhoods are good places to live: good community, employment and social facilities; opportunities for walking, cycling and public transport; better energy and waste efficiency; provision of green space; and protection of the historic environment and surrounding landscape.

Strong protection for Green Belt
9. CPRE wants to see proposals for housing in the Green Belt around Bournemouth, Poole and Bath rejected completely. These Green Belt areas, as part of their role in preventing urban sprawl, are essential to safeguard internationally important conservation assets. Elsewhere the exceptional circumstances for any proposals to change Green Belt boundaries should be set out, including consideration of all the alternatives. We also advocated improvements to the draft RSS to ensure positive management of Green Belt land and other urban fringes for conservation and recreation.

Reducing our environmental footprint
10. We welcomed the sustainability aims in the draft RSS but at the EiP highlighted inconsistencies in a number of policy areas.  For example, the draft policies on airport development and encouraging individual road schemes would increase carbon emissions and exacerbate climate change. The top priority for transport should be improvement in public transport provision and measures to encourage walking and cycling. CPRE reminded the Panel that a shortfall in primary aggregates is forecast in parts of the region and asked for full exploration of the use of secondary and recycled materials.

Protecting our countryside
11. We want to see a specific aim to protect the rural and coastal character of the region. CPRE presented evidence [3] that showed the rapid decline in both tranquillity and dark skies across the South West in recent decades. Detailed landscape studies are still very patchy across the region. It is not simply the nationally designated landscapes that are important in the South West. Decisions on urban extensions and other developments need to be made with full consideration of the ‘eco-systems services’ that the countryside contributes to communities, such as provision of local foods, water supply and flood management, wildlife, and opportunities for recreation.

A more sustainable approach to prosperity 
12. We are seeking a ‘basket-of-measures’ approach to prosperity that recognises quality of life, places less reliance on built development and requires exploration of alternative economic options. The housing numbers proposed in the draft RSS are based on only one measure of economic success – GVA growth per annum. Our economic expert showed that around 25% of economic growth in the region is simply the result of net in-migration from other English regions. Improved productivity could be addressed through, for example, greater investment in skills and training and added value appropriate to local conditions. This would be a more sustainable route to achieving rural vitality than continued high levels of dispersed development.

Next steps
13. The public will be able to submit written comments in summer 2008 when the Government publishes Proposed Changes to the policy statement – a revised draft RSS based on the Panel’s recommendations. The Minister will then make a final decision on housing numbers and other policies before the completed RSS is published later in 2008.

NOTES TO 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

2. The South West of England is covered by our branches of Avonside, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.

3. See our web site www.cpre.org.uk for our work on tranquillity and light pollution. Go to www.cpre.org.uk/campaigns/planning/intrusion/national-and-regional-intrusion-maps/intrusion-map-south-west for maps of comparative noise and visual intrusion in the South West from 2007, the 1990s and 1960s. Our analysis shows the South West, once the English region least disturbed by noise and visual intrusion with only 15% of the area affected in the 1960s, is now over 40% affected. Go to http://www.cpre.org.uk/campaigns/landscape/tranquillity/national-and-regional-tranquillity-maps/south-west for a map of comparative tranquillity (published 2006). Go to www.cpre.org.uk/campaigns/landscape/light-pollution/light-pollution-in-your-area for a map CPRE published in 2003 showing the decline in dark skies in the South West: on average, the light shining upwards at night from each square kilometre in the South West rose by 17% in less than a decade.