Letter to local Dorset Council election candidates

Dorset CPRE has written to Dorset Council candidates standing for election on 2nd May 2024

There are full local and parish council elections for all Dorset Council wards on 2nd May 2024 where all seats in 52 Dorset Council wards plus parish/town/village councils are up for elections.

We wrote to candidates in April to introduce our charity. The letter focused on the key actions that can be taken forward by councillors and will positively contribute towards providing new and improved homes, key infrastructure and protection of the natural environment and wildlife. These include: Dorset Council’s Local Plan, protecting the Green Belt and natural environment, Brownfield first policy, solar and insulation, supporting Dorset’s farming and agriculture, and thriving Dorset communities. A short version is reproduced in this article and we will write again to elected councillors.

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Dear Dorset Council Candidate,

I am writing to introduce Dorset CPRE, the local branch of the CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England).

Dorset CPRE works with both Unitary Councils and other stakeholders in Dorset to promote, enhance, and protect the local countryside and promote thriving rural communities for the benefit of all, and we are part of a wider national Network of CPRE branches. The CPRE, both nationally and locally, contributes to major consultations including strategy, housing, planning and the environment.

Dorset CPRE has identified the following key actions that will positively contribute towards providing new and improved homes, key infrastructure and protection of the natural environment and wildlife:

Dorset Council’s Local Plan

Perhaps the biggest single area of concern across the Dorset Council area is the issue of the much-delayed Local Plan. Frustration at the continuing delays in the production of the next iteration of the Plan has provided common ground for a number of organisations who care about the balance between providing the right homes in the right places and preserving the countryside: not least Dorset CPRE.

This culminated in Dorset CPRE joining with the Dorset Deserves Better Campaign in sending an open letter to Cllr Spencer Flower, Leader of Dorset Council, asking for more transparency and more local involvement in the development of the Local Plan. As a Dorset Councillor you will be best placed to ensure this happens.

Protect the Green Belt and Natural Environment

Dorset CPRE maintains that excessive local housing targets are wrong, since they lead to planners being compelled to allocate sites for market housing on precious Green Belt and other greenfield land. Green Belt policy is a valid long-term constraint on housing sprawl, whilst providing open countryside for present and future generations to enjoy.

Brownfield first

Ensuring that local housing need is met firstly through the re-development of previously developed sites before considering the development of Greenfields is a subject close to our heart. CPRE’s 2022 ‘State of Brownfield’ report shows that the amount of previously developed land continues to grow across England. You could help to utilise these sites effectively if you only allowed greenfield developments as a last resort (with necessary exceptions for affordable and social homes to address local need).

Solar and insulation

In December 2023, the government launched a new consultation on building standards and is considering making rooftop solar panels a basic expectation for most new buildings including all new houses. We have been actively promoting rooftop solar for some years to fight climate change and using this rooftop space would dramatically reduce the pressure for controversial ‘greenfield’ solar farms. It would also be sensible to support the installation of suitable (e.g. English Heritage approved) double and triple glazing for Listed and conservation area dwellings to improve insulation and reduce running costs.

Supporting Dorset’s Farming and Agriculture

Farmers need support to be able to give us the countryside we treasure. We believe that farmers are entitled to long-term public subsidy to deliver, look after, conserve and manage the things that people want from the countryside – valued open landscapes and valued features such as hedgerows, habitat for wildlife, access to the countryside through a network of usable public footpaths and so on. We provided funding to the Great Big Dorset Hedge Project, setup by Dorset Climate Action Network (DCAN), which is surveying and accessing the condition of hedgerows the length and breadth of Dorset. We strongly support local food production which is good for farmers, consumers and the countryside.

Thriving Dorset communities

Our area has a distinctive rural character that we need to nurture for future generations to allow everyone to enjoy the countryside for its health and wellbeing benefits. This suggests there are needs to:

• Protect the Natural Environment and green spaces from development to retain the special character of our area.
• Encourage the development of genuinely affordable homes for social rent.
• Maintain access to public transport for all communities, reversing the declining provision of bus services particularly in rural areas. This is one of five key areas we suggested for prioritisation in our March 2024 response to the new joint Local Transport Plan (LTP4).
• Support local economies, infrastructure services and supply chains, including farmers and Dorset food and drink producers.
• Deter and proactively reduce littering, river, harbour and sea pollution.

If you are elected as a Councillor, I sincerely hope that you will feel able to support the above key actions and use your influence to ensure the people of Dorset get the Local Plan that they deserve.

Yours sincerely,

Neil Matthews
Chair of Trustees