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D1: Cross Cutting Policies

D1.S1 CPRE Hampshire supports those Cross Cutting policies that underline the need for development to minimise the overall impact on the environment whilst still achieving the social goals of the plan.

D1.S2 CPRE Hampshire strongly supports the objective of stabilising the ecological footprint of the South East by 2010. However, other Cross Cutting policies make the unwelcome assumption that significant amounts of new (i.e. greenfield) land will be needed to accommodate new development, and that new land will also be needed for transport infrastructure (i.e. for new roads). Neither forms of land use seem compatible with the stabilising objective for the South East.

D1.S3 CPRE Hampshire strongly supports the concept that the prime focus for development should be the urban areas, but cannot support the inference that up to 40% of all new development will be on greenfield land. A target of at least 75% of all development on previously developed land should be set. At the same time the urban environment must be developed to provide a high quality of life.

D2: Economy

D2.S1 The economic policies appear to treat economic development as an overriding priority, rather than as just one of the factors that needs to be addressed in order to achieve a high quality of life for the region's inhabitants.

D2.S2 The provision of more workers to solve the problems of a tight labour market implies more inward migration that, in the long term, can never be sustainable without severely affecting the environment. Productivity gains and increased skills, ie smart growth, provide a better solution.

D2.S3 The policies relating to the allocation of employment land are disappointing in that they appear to offer not the slightest hint of the step change in attitudes sought within the Cross Cutting polices, nor do they make any contribution to stabilising the region's ecological footprint.

D2.S4 In our view there is probably already a region-wide surplus of employment land that is likely to grow. Until an objective study of this topic is carried out, there should be a presumption against new greenfield land releases for employment. In any event a target of 85% of commercial development on previously developed land should be set.

D2.S5 We strongly support the concept of an urban focus, but there is no evidence that employment land and opportunities will be directed towards the deprived communities that really need it.