Sir – It is ironic that on the day four Oxfordshire MPs write in The Oxford Times about how safe the Green Belt is in their care, we learn that Berinsfield’s status as a Green Belt village is to be reviewed.
If the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework comes into existence in its current proposed format, it won’t just be the Green Belt we have to worry about. All our open countryside and green spaces will be at risk from the presumption in favour of development.
CPRE Oxfordshire believes there are many urgent questions our MPs still have to answer:
- How will the value of the countryside, for farming, wildlife, leisure etc, be recognised?
- How will removing the ‘brownfield first’ policy help promote urban regeneration?
- How will the environment be protected if economic considerations are always the priority?
- How will development be controlled if local plans aren’t in place in time for the NPPF?
- How will affordable housing be promoted if the current system is dismantled?
We welcome the MPs’ offer of a collective meeting with CPRE and hope that this can be arranged quickly. With the public consultation ending on October 17, people don’t have long to put forward their views. It would be good to think our MPs had heard from their constituents before this date.
Helen Marshall, Director, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Oxfordshire Branch
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