CPRE warns of fresh greenfield dangers

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has warned that new recommendations from the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (NHPAU) could put the country's greenfield areas in further jeopardy.

Last week NHPAU advised that the government's current targets of building 240,000 homes a year would need to be increased to 270,000 if demand was to be met.

However, the CPRE has said that, despite the research, the new recommendations are in excess of the number actually required.

"Projections suggest that between 223,000 and 250,000 new households a year are expected to form over the next 20 years, yet this body proposes that 270,000 homes should be built," said Kate Gordon from the CPRE.

"Instead of foisting more development on the country's most pressured regions, we need a planned approach which takes account of environmental capacity, makes better use of existing buildings and the swathes of derelict land that exist across the country.

"We must not sacrifice the nation's precious countryside needlessly in response to flawed economic modelling," Ms Gordon warned.

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