TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT
Whilst the public sector is tightening its belt, it must still honour its responsibilities with regards to protecting the countryside and green spaces, says CPRE chief executive Shaun Spiers.
Eyesores
He continued: “We would like to see a great emphasis being put on good design of housing and not just a focus on hous- ing numbers. We are a little worried by the current government’s proposals for hous- ing incentives, which seem to be based on the pure number of houses rather than on the quality of those houses.
“There are some awful developments that you can see right across the country and that are eyesores where no-one is going to want to live in 20 or 30 years’ time. While local authorities have a big responsibility in ensuring good design, environmental effi ciency and proper planning of develop- ments, some of them don’t do that.
“Many developments are put up without any architects involved. So our emphasis really is on good planning based on proper engagement with local people.
“However, we certainly recognise that there is a need for a substantial increase in affordable housing in rural areas. The disparity between the lowest quartile of private sector house prices and the lowest quartile of earnings is absolutely huge in some areas; in multiples of ten or more in some places.
“You are not going to be able to have vi- brant villages with a decent social mix
– with the butcher, the baker and candle- stick maker all living in the same street, so to speak – unless you provide subsidised social housing and we want to see that come about.
“This will require local authorities to make a priority of it and, in some cases, actually fi nd some money for it, too.”
Litter louts
Another issue the CPRE is deeply con- cerned about, and which is the subject of their fl agship campaign Stop The Drop, is litter and fl y-tipping.
“I don’t want to be damning about local authorities but on the other hand there are some which are very slow at getting their plans in place.”
Spiers explained: “This campaign is ac- tually headed up by our president, Bill Bryson, who always says that there is not much point living in a country which is only beautiful from the ankles up.
“I think that local councillors in particu- lar would understand that litter is one of those things that really makes local people angry and has a signifi cant effect on their sense of place along with how much they want to live in an area.
“I also think that litter in the countryside is more of a problem, because it is more noticeable and takes longer to clear up, so we do want to see local authorities taking their responsibilities seriously in terms of things like providing bins.
“There was a story in the Evening Standard about a London local authority which was losing half of its bins to save money; but authorities across the country need to en- sure that there are enough bins around.
“CPRE would also like to see local authori- ties take their responsibilities seriously to- wards prosecuting fl y-tippers.
“The cost of clearing up litter was esti- mated to have been £850m in 2009/10, which was an increase of 10% on the year be- fore. So in times of fi nancial scarcity it is worth tackling this is- sue as well.”
Shaun Spiers
FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit
www.cpre.org.uk
public sector executive Mar/Apr 11 | 37
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68