Charity raises alarm over housebuilding plans

Environmental campaigners have raised the alarm about the scale and type of housebuilding proposed for Berkshire and the impact this will have on the countryside and green spaces of the Royal County.

The Berkshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has expressed “serious concerns” about the number of new houses being planned in the county. The group is calling on councillors and Members of Parliament to stand together with local residents to oppose “excessive and unsustainable housebuilding targets”.

CPRE Berkshire Chairman Greg Wilkinson says: “We all agree that we need some new homes built in our towns and villages, particularly social and affordable housing, but what is currently proposed for our county is far more than we can cope with. We are seeing this already with some of the housing schemes being put forward. They are the wrong sort of homes, in the wrong places, and the developments are on far too big a scale.

“Not only do we stand to lose significant areas of our countryside, in some cases valuable agricultural land, if more of these new housing estates are built, but such large-scale housebuilding will greatly harm the quality of life of people in Berkshire, as well as depleting nature, increasing pollution and reducing biodiversity.”

CPRE Berkshire, which was formed in 1926 and will be celebrating its centenary in two years’ time, wants a stronger commitment by councillors and MPs to the protection of Berkshire’s countryside and open spaces. “We are disappointed that the new government is trying to push through sweeping changes to the planning system which would limit the ability of local communities to resist unwanted and unnecessary new development,” says Greg Wilkinson.

“We are also very concerned about the government’s proposed increases in housing targets for areas outside London. It cannot be justifiable for towns and villages in a rural county like Berkshire to be forced to take massive additional housebuilding to meet national targets when in our view the majority of new housing should be focused on the big cities.”

Mr Wilkinson hopes that there will be strong opposition to the current housebuilding plans. “Across Berkshire we have councillors and MPs from all three of the main national political parties,” he says. “This should make it possible to achieve cross-party unity in defence of our local countryside and environment. It is vital that our elected representatives stand together on this. I urge local residents to make their views known to MPs and councillors.”

CPRE Berkshire works to promote, protect and enhance the countryside of the Royal County, primarily through engagement with the planning system and local communities. For information of CPRE’s work in Berkshire please email cpreberkshire@btopenworld.com or visit the website www.cpreberkshire.org.uk.