Dorset CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) is joining a coalition of 18 organisations, including the RSPB, the Ramblers and the Open Spaces Society in its condemnation of the government’s new planning proposals.

Peter Bowyer, Dorset CPRE chairman of trustees, said, “Building excessive housing can only be at the expense of our very special environment and our communities. Our environment is Dorset’s greatest economic asset. Our communities need appropriate homes to meet local need, including truly affordable homes for young families whom we need to keep and attract to work here and so help grow Dorset’s economy.

“Dorset CPRE supports a locally led democratic planning system rather than deregulated proposals.”

The joint ‘Vision for planning’ was launched at a virtual debate with speakers including the Housing Minister the Rt Hon Chris Pincher MP.

Tom Fyans, deputy chief executive of CPRE, said, “We’re calling on the government to plan back better and work with us to develop a planning system that puts people, and tackling the climate and ecological emergencies, at its heart.

“We all deserve a home we can genuinely afford to live in, and to have a say in shaping the communities around us. And for over 70 years, a toolbox has been in place to make sure that can happen: the planning system. But as things stand, under the government’s current proposals, the opportunity to influence what happens and where in our communities would be halved.

“Before Christmas, the government announced a welcome revision of its housing numbers ‘algorithm’. However, this was only one small part of a range of potentially damaging proposals put forward by the government last year. That’s why we’re calling on Ministers to take an equally pragmatic approach to improving policies relating to community voice, affordable homes and access to green spaces. Together, we can develop a planning system fit for the 21st century.”