CPRE Leicestershire

As you are no doubt aware, the Coalition Government is in the process of taking apart the well developed, tried-and-tested regulations governing sensible planning practice. This comprises a set of documents called Planning Policy Guidance papers (PPGs) Planning Policy Statements (PPSs) and Mineral Planning Guidance (MPGs). The page-count for the PPGs and PPSs is 552 and for the MPGs it is 472. Each PPS and PPG covers a specific area of planning. In addition there are another 73 pages of supporting Circulars and Notes. The Government proposes to slash this total page count of 1,097 down to a mere fifty or so pages - a document currently out for consultation until October 17th and known as the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Every year we aim to have a CPRE stand at key events around the county. Two major public events we have attended so far this year have been the Rempstone Steam & Country Show near Burton-on-the-Wolds and the National Forest Wood Fair at Beacon Hill. At these events we meet a wide cross section of the public, all of whom are very supportive of what we do - once they learn about our purpose. There lies the rub though, an awful lot of folks haven't heard of CPRE, or if they have, they don't know what the initials stand for. Now that we have a new logo it is to be hoped that it becomes instantly and widely recognisable.

Leicestershire CPRE Branch now has a Yahoo email/webmail facility, enabling bona fide members to share matters for discussion. If interested, please do get in touch with us for a formal invitation to the Yahoo group.

A planning application was submitted to Melton Borough Council planners in early January 2011 for a wind farm comprising nine turbines, one of which had a ground to blade tip height of 108 metres and the others would have been 125 metres high. That's approximately 355 and 410 feet respectively. Accordingly, the CPRE District representatives for the Melton area weighed up the application and subsequently submitted the following letter of objection:

Tom Longs Meadow, Quorn, December 2010

Judging took place on Monday November 1st and the winning entries can be seen here.

There are a variety of opportunities with CPRE Leics to help us continue and expand our activities:

Fundraiser

We're aiming to raise funds to enable us to run more projects to protect the Leicestershire Countryside. Duties include:
1. Co-ordinate fundraising activities – working with other volunteers
2. Investigate sources of funding and find appropriate local contacts
3. Draft grant applications
4. Find sponsorship
5. Write to donors
We’d like someone with experience of fundraising.

As a registered charities we are increasingly finding ourselves in a position where it is difficult to undertake tasks to conserve the countryside, even though our planning volunteers are unpaid, working on an expenses-only basis. Even then, some volunteers forego claiming some expenses. However, this is not a position we can sustain for very much longer.

 In 2004 CPRE launched a campaign to oppose inappropriately sited telecommunications masts. The problem was, and still is, that just about everyone wants a mobile phone and expects it to work anywhere they go. Where a mast and its antennae present a serious impact on amenity, any such application will be subject to a local authority's Development Control. The details are set out in the Government document Planning Policy Guidance 8.