Planning

Careful planning is one of the most important ways in which we can control and protect our environment whilst ensuring that sustainable development is possible. Whether planning in your neighbourhood or a planning application for development on your doorstep, planning decisions affect us all.

Responding to planning applications

Do you need help responding to a planning application? Herefordshire CPRE have an on-line guide that will help you understand the process and demonstrate ways of responding. The planning process is complex and it is important to put forward the best arguments whether supporting or opposing any planning application. Click here for our planning guide page.

As a branch we respond to Herefordshire Council consultations, such as the Herefordshire Local Plan and Hereford by pass. In 2013, we proposed the creation of a new AONB. We are also a statutory consultee for Neighbourhood Development Plans (NDPs) at regulation 14.

Herefordshire CPRE has a small group of planning volunteers who advise and comment on inappropriate development in the countryside. We are able to do our work, thanks to the support of our membership.

Planning 'reform' success

At Herefordshire CPRE we’re cautiously optimistic following the announcement last week by Robert Jenrick that the Government is abandoning its plan to use a computer algorithm to dictate numbers of houses built in each area. We believe it’s not only a step in the right direction but also that the Government is listening to the views of the people. Both local groups and national CPRE have consistently challenged the proposed planning ‘reforms’ published this year on the basis of 3 major concerns – they would lead to:

Herefordshire Local Plan

The Herefordshire Core Strategy, which was adopted in October 2015, sets out the overall vision, objectives and spatial strategy for the County.

CPRE Herefordshire's Planning Local Area Network (PLAN)

CPRE Herefordshire’s dedicated planning volunteers keep an eye on and, where necessary, respond to planning applications at the local level. The team works hard in the face of serious threats to the landscape, such as the spreading swathe of polytunnels across parts of the Wye Valley AONB or piecemeal development in open countryside.

Our planning guide

How to comment on Planning Applications - Self-Help GuidelinesAbout usWe are not qualified planning specialists, architects, surveyors, or land agents but individuals who have struggled to understand the Planning System and have gradually learned ways in which we can write effective comments to Planning Applications. We are not providing a prescriptive recipe, rather some hints about the kinds of points and evidence that could be used in writing to support or object to applications.

Planning and hedgerows

Protecting hedgerows (Guide to responding to a planning application)CPRE has long been concerned that countryside hedgerows should be retained, well managed and where necessary restored to a good state. We appreciate the beauty of hedgerows as they change through the seasons and their value as food sources, habitats and 'wildlife corridors', particularly if they're running through intensively farmed land. However planning decisions focus on specific details of hedgerows which we outline below.

Report to HCPRE members on the PLAN team's work

HCPRE’s involvement in planning submissions - Review: 2011-2019 Patrick Goode(20 November 2020)The review is based on the database compiled by Beth Savagar, to whom I am very grateful.

Sustainable Development

The countryside provides us with natural resources such as soil, water, minerals and energy. It uplifts us spiritually through its beauty and tranquillity. It supplies over 60% of our food and is a home for wildlife and over 14 million people.

Planning 2020 - the Raynsford Review

‘Planning 2020’, the report of the Raynsford Review of Planning in England has now been published. It highlights the six key characteristics needed for a fit-for-purpose planning system, and puts forward 24 recommendations grouped under nine propositions.

Affordable housing

This Government Briefing Paper looks at key trends in the affordability of different tenure types. It also examines the supply of affordable housing and the role of Housing Benefit in enabling households to access and retain affordable housing. Unfortunately it focusses on accessibility as a whole with no investigation of the specific problems of rural areas.