CPRE has been standing up for the countryside independently for 91 years. In that time we have achieved some remarkable successes.  We led early campaigns to introduce National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Green Belts and the town and country planning system-all of which remain at the heart of countryside protection today.

The Dorset branch (established in 1937) has achieved this in recent years:

• Our Sherborne & District Group masterminded the successful campaign to save a much needed Sherborne hotel and protect the high street by preventing Tesco building an unwanted supermarket on the site
• We helped stop the West Dorset, Slyer’s Lane and Blandford Hill windfarms, as well as the Rampisham and Sadborow solar farms, which would all have had serious adverse visual impact on the unspoilt Dorset countryside
• Our North Dorset Group helped save the beautiful Crown Meadows from inappropriate housing development in Blandford
• There have been campaigns throughout Dorset to control littering since Bill Bryson launched Stop The Drop
• We have helped fund the refurbishment of iconic fingerposts and we are supporting Community Land Trusts.
• We sponsor the Best Dorset Village Shop competition and are promoting local quality food and drink producers.

Imagine what our countryside would look like today without these successes, and those of other CPRE branches throughout England.