Background Information

Planning Campaign Group

The Branch Planning & Rural Group aims to achieve wider recognition of issues relating to land use and planning within Hampshire, and to improve understanding of CPRE's campaigns and policies on housing, countryside protection, the natural environment, waste and minerals.

The Group is mainly concerned with saving the Hampshire countryside from inappropriate development. It campaigns for better design of new housing with greater integration into its surroundings, and higher densities where appropriate. In this way, or towns and cities are regenerated while the countryside is saved from urban sprawl.

Crucial to achieving these aims is participation in development of strategic and local development plans, seeking change where it is needed; and many individual planning applications are reviewed and commented on.

Current areas of work in planning include:

The South East Plan (Regional Spatial Strategy), in particular; its domination by economic growth and housing targets when the South East is reaching environmental limits
Concerns about projected growth in the South Hampshire Sub-Region and the Western Corridor and Blackwater Valley Sub-Region in the north of the county
The impact of people working to a greater age
New Local Development Frameworks, including Local Plans
Hampshire Material Resources Strategy
Improvement in tranquillity and dark skies, using the planning system.

For further information on any of the above subjects, please contact:
Christopher Napier, Chairman, Planning & Rural Group
Tel: 01730 893272
Email: Christopher.napier@cliffordchance.com

CPRE Hampshire
Nov 2008

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Notes to editors

The Campaign to Protect Rural England, Hampshire Branch (CPRE Hampshire) is a registered charity and a branch of the national CPRE charity.

CPRE Hampshire strives to promote the beauty, tranquility and diversity of the countryside of Hampshire by the sustainable use of land and other resources in town and country, and encouraging the biodiversity and well-being of rural communities.

For information on CPRE, please contact:
Becky French or Pam Mason, CPRE Hampshire
Tel: 01962 843655
Email:admin@cprehampshire.org.uk

For all media enquiries, please contact:
Keren Burney, media & communications officer, CPRE Hampshire
Tel: 01730 894123 Mobile: 07876 780065
Email: kburney000@aol.com