Dedham Vale Society

THE SOCIETY AND THE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND (CPRE)Why all DVS members should join CPREThe new coalition government has strong views on many things but it is unclear as yet what its policieswill mean for the countryside. The announcement by Eric Pickles, the Communities and LocalGovernment Secretary, that he will abolish the existing system of imposed housing quotas is to bewelcomed. But there are fears that in this fast-growing corner of Britain, the absence of a policy willcreate a vacuum. There is concern that we could see a period of unconstrained green field housingdevelopment at the expense of the regeneration of towns and cities. Councils are to be given incentivesamounting to six years’ council tax revenues if they allow homes to be built, so one imagines that theywill be only too happy to do so at a time when their revenues are being cut. There are fears that a muchdisliked, centrally imposed housing target could be replaced by a worse outcome, if voices like ours arenot heard.The abolition of regional strategies, which went against the grain of the way things are done by CountyCouncils, will be welcomed by many. But the forthcoming Localism Bill will contain other things, suchas allowing local housing trusts to build without planning permission in villages when there isoverwhelming local support. Regional Development Agencies will be replaced by Local EnterprisePartnerships, bringing together councils and businesses. Gardens will no longer be allowed to beregarded as brownfield sites, where there is an assumption in favour of development. But where willthe development go? Will the altered planning system be strong enough to stop development spreadingto green field sites? In all these areas, the policy may sound like an improvement on centrally driventargets, but the law of unintendedconsequences could easily prevail.When there is more uncertainty in theplanning system than there has beenfor decades, havens like the <strong>Dedham</strong><strong>Vale</strong> are going to need strong friends.Since its foundation in 1938, The<strong>Dedham</strong> <strong>Vale</strong> <strong>Society</strong> has beenaffiliated to The Campaign to ProtectRural England (formerly called atleast two other things with the sameinitials). For many years, CPREssexand the Suffolk Preservation <strong>Society</strong>(CPRE in Suffolk) have worked withthe DVS to protect the <strong>Dedham</strong> <strong>Vale</strong>.This is recognised formally in thatRobert Erith, our President, is a VicePresident of CPREssex and we arerepresented on the CPREssexcommittee by Roger Drury. Inaddition CPREssex Colchester branchis represented on the DVS committeeby Rosemary Turner.There are alsoclose links with Suffolk Preservation<strong>Society</strong> and we expect to strengthenthese further in the near future.Rural England – The Stour at Wormingford4