New President of CPRE, the Countryside Charity!
I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve just been elected President of CPRE The countryside charity. So much important, generation-shaping work to do, to protect the countryside and deliver much needed future-focused solutions:
A thriving countryside underpins everything important: housing, climate, energy, nature, food, access, health and the economy. Wherever you live, work and play, the countryside matters.
credit: Oliver Edwards / Countryfile Magazine
A few initial thoughts –
ENERGY
A swift transition to clean energy, that doesn’t leave anyone behind
A no-brainer – let’s put solar panels on rooftops first – that would achieve 60% of the UK’s solar target. the rest – which will have to be ground-mounted – needs to go in the right place, on land that’s delivering the most for nature and people.
A swift transition to clean energy, that doesn’t leave anyone behind
A no-brainer – let’s put solar panels on rooftops first – that would achieve 60% of the UK’s solar target. the rest – which will have to be ground-mounted – needs to go in the right place, on land that’s delivering the most for nature and people.
Lift the onshore wind ban, but make sure turbines are sited with local consultation and landscape sensitivity. They need to go up, we just need to make sure they’re in the most sensible, least harm, places.
Reduce energy demand – by insulating, refurbishing rather than demolishing, and reducing unecessary expenditure
HOUSING
Let’s build quality homes in communities that help people live their best lives.
Legislate to make sure we create homes that are *truly* affordable (ie linked to local wages, not 80% of local house price averages – becuase for many people in rural communities, 80% of unaffordable is still 100% unaffordable)
Make sure developers can’t exploit the system and shirk their social responsibilities
Regulate second homes and short term lets in places that have unsustainable housing pressures that mean local folk can’t live where their families or jobs are.
CPRE has a long history for fighting for the countryside – spearheading protections like Greenbelt, helping secure the future of the National Parks, campainging to raise awareness of car dependency, light pollution, rural homelessness… The teams around the country work hard to make sure that countryside areas are seen as having value, rather than just being empty bits on the map, waiting to be turned into ‘something’. We need to be good at advocating for what good looks like too – and celebrating those places where good is being built.
We’ve got a lot of work to do – to raise ambitions, raise the floor and shout loud for nature, people and the countryside!
