The report entitled ‘Beauty Betrayed’ [PDF 4.1MB]  published by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) today (Nov 15) shows there has been an 82% increase in new housing units given planning permission in England’s 34 AONBs in the past five years.

The largest of these sites is a development of 600 new homes on the historic Sussex High Weald AONB at Pease Pottage in Sussex. The scheme, which is being built to help meet housing targets in nearby Crawley, was rubber stamped by Mid Sussex District Council last year.

CPRE Sussex is now urging the Government to protect celebrated landscapes from mass housing developments before any more are lost to concrete.
 
“We are shocked and saddened at this desecration of our most beautiful landscapes, rich in heritage and natural beauty,” Says Director of CPRE Sussex, Kia Trainor. “Sussex is an attractive place to live and work and this means that demand for housing is high, but we should not be sacrificing these outstanding landscapes for executive homes which don’t even address local housing need.”
 
Today’s report shows a five-fold increase in the amount of AONB land set to be lost under concrete. At the same time the number of housing planning applications has more than doubled.
 
The research, commissioned by CPRE [PDF 5.4MB] , includes data from Glenigan specialists on the UK construction industry. It shows clear evidence that housing developers are applying increasing pressure on local authorities to build new homes on AONBs by exploiting poorly defined and conflicting national planning policy.
 
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) says that: ‘Great weight should be given to conserving landscape and scenic beauty in AONBs, which have the highest status of protection in relation to landscape and scenic beauty.’ Government policy also allows housing targets to be lower in designated areas and recommends that ‘major developments’, including housing schemes, should be refused except in ‘exceptional circumstances’.
 
But this latest research shows that the pressure on local authorities is set to increase, with applications for a further 12,741 homes in AONBs currently awaiting decision. Based on the 2016/17 housing approval rate of 64%, this could mean a further 8,154 units, resulting in a total of 23,639 units being approved in AONBs since 2012.
 
Unsurprisingly, pressure for development within AONBs – defined by the number of applications, approvals and housing units – is highest in the South East and South West. In these areas, just eight AONBs account for 74% of all housing applications and 79% of all approvals from 2012-2017.
 
“What is, in effect, a sell-off of AONBs is surely among the worst examples of misguided housing policy, where the drive to build more houses, any houses, no matter how unaffordable, to meet housing targets, is at the cost of our most beautiful landscapes,” says CPRE Senior Rural Policy Campaigner, Emma Marrington.
 
“While CPRE advocates the building of right homes in the right places, AONBs are definitely not the right place. On top of this, current development on AONBs shows little evidence that what’s built will actually help solve the housing crisis, which is more to do with affordability than lack of land.”
 
CPRE Recommendations

Based on the findings of the report, CPRE says that unless the Government and local authorities take action now, we are in danger of losing more AONB land to housing development and seeing a significant part of these beautiful landscapes disappear from our lives.

CPRE calls on the Government to:

• Amend the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to state a presumption against proposals for large housing developments in AONBs. It should be made clear, as it is for Green Belt, that demand for housing or the lack of a five-year supply does not justify large housing developments in AONBs.
• Include targets in the promised 25-year Environment Plan to ensure that development does not damage landscape quality. This would emphasise the importance of AONBs to the health, wellbeing and prosperity of the nation and set out how they will be better protected.
• Give all AONBs the statutory right to be consulted for major development proposals in their area, so that their advice is fully considered when determining a planning application.
• Reform the New Homes Bonus scheme for local authorities so that it no longer encourages large-scale housebuilding in AONBs.
• Publish annual statistics on the rate of development and other changes of land use in AONBs, as is already done for Green Belts. 

For more information go to: http://www.cpre.org.uk/media-centre/latest-news-releases/item/4705-gov-failing-to-protect-England-celebrated-landscapes-from-mass-housing-developments