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Wiltshire Branch |
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LDF SALISBURY HOUSING MARKET AREA Salisbury District Council’s Local Plan is about to run out of time and the Council, who will become extinct when Wiltshire goes unitary next year, has started the process of producing an LDF. They are required to produce a Core Strategy with suggested preferred options to be put out for consultation. The figures for housing starts and potential growth of employment opportunities are guided by the Regional Spatial Strategy, which is in draft form, and awaiting signing off by the Secretary of State. The RSS has indicated that it would like to see 12,400 houses built in the Salisbury HMA by 2026, (6,000 in Salisbury itself, and 6,400 in Salisbury District) to accommodate the 13,900 new employment opportunities that are forecast to grow in this period. The Core Strategy accepts these figures and has indicated some options for their location, guided by a draft Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment, which is also out for consultation. Public meetings have been held throughout the district to explain these papers, and there have been numerous local meetings called to protest at the suggested preferred options, to which local councillors and our MP, Robert Key, have attended. There is considerable local disquiet at the proposals, and at the way the issues are being handled by the local officers, who have been forced to give a longer period for the public to respond. Responses have to be made to Forward Planning and Conservation, Salisbury District Council, 61 Wyndham Road, Salisbury, SP1 3AH by April 25, using the proforma supplied with the booklets. Electronic responses are preferred, and all information is available on SDC’s website at www.salisbury.gov.uk/preferred-options The SHLAA is also to be found on their website. The South Wilts Group CPRE will be making a detailed response to these proposals, in particular questioning the methodology that the RSS has used to support the figures, and will be challenging the draft RSS when it is put out to consultation later this year. National Cycling Revolution The South West could soon join a national cycling revolution, as Secretary of State for Transport, Ruth Kelly, invited towns and cities across the region to bid for a record £140 million fund to help a generation rediscover their bikes. This ambitious new drive to boost cycling will create more opportunities for exercise as well as helping to tackle road congestion and improve air quality. It fulfils a commitment to increase investment in sustainable transport initiatives, outlined in the recent strategy document, ‘Towards a Sustainable Transport System’. Of the £140 million total funding, £110 million is new as Government funding for Cycling England is already £10 million a year. The package includes a contribution from the Department of Health in recognition of cycling’s role in helping build the recommended levels of activity into people’s daily lives. This contribution will be targeted towards areas with high levels of obesity. Cycling England will be seeking bids for the new Cycle Demonstration Towns and City in Spring 2008/9. Following a period of planning, the major investment will begin the following year. TRANQUILLITY CAMPAIGN On Monday, 23rd October 2006 CPRE launched a national campaign to protect tranquillity – one of the countryside’s most valued attributes and an important indicatory of countryside quality. When launching the campaign National Office said: ‘We all need to ‘get away from it all’ and visit areas that are largely free from intrusive manmade noise and structures. The tranquillity we experience in such places is good for our hearts, minds and bodies’. Sadly, ‘getting away from it all’ is becoming harder and hard to do. Tranquillity is under threat from the spread of major roads, airports, houses and other buildings, wind turbines, quarries and, crucially, the new traffic movement and noise such development generates, on the ground and in the air. CPRE has developed an accurate way to measure tranquillity and from that measurement have produced a detailed map revealing the likelihood someone would experience tranquillity in any locality. This map offers an important new way to keep track of our priceless, increasingly threatened tranquil places – and so help to conserve and enhance them. It is hoped decision-makers at all levels will use the maps to do this. If you think you can help, or wish to know more about the campaign, visit [www.cpre.org.uk] Forthcoming Events The 2008 Best Kept Village competition... [more...] GROUP AND BRANCH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS 2008 North Wilts Group AGM Date: Friday, 9th May, 2008 Place: Wootton Bassett Memorial Hall - doors open at 6.00 p.m. The AGM will be followed by a Panel of Speakers discussing the question ‘How Will Climate Change Affect the Countryside?’. This will be Chaired by the Rt. Hon. Lord King of Bridgwater CH with Panel members Mr Chris Gingell from the National Trust, Dr Richard Pagett an international environmental expert and oceanographer and Mr Jeremy Birch from Friends of the Earth on the effect of airport expansion. Light refreshments will be served before the debate and there will be a cash bar serving wine and soft drinks. West Wilts Group AGM Date: Wednesday, 4th June, 2008 Place: Steeple Ashton Village Hall - doors open at 6.30 p.m. The AGM will be followed by a talk to be given by David Boag who lectures extensively on wildlife and has written several best selling books on kingfishers and the like. The topic he will be talking on is ‘The Wonderful Life of Quarries’, an illustrated talk on the wonderful wildlife that can be found in quarries. The talk is based on the Yeoman Quarries in the Mendips. A finger buffet will be provided. Branch and South Wilts Group AGMs Date: Friday 6th June, 2008 Place: Langford Lakes Education Centre - doors open at 6.30 p.m. The AGM will be followed by a talk on The Langford Lakes & Wiltshire Wildlife Trust by Gary Mantle, Director of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. A buffet will follow. (If you wish to reserve a place for supper the cost is £12.00 per head) Kennet Group Date: Wednesday, 11th June, 2008 Place: Coronation Hall, Alton Barnes - doors open 6.30 p.m. The AGM will be followed by a talk given by Dr Andy Brown on ‘Vision for the Countryside’ - The pressures on land are immense - house building and roads, agriculture and biofuels, wind turbines and nuclear energy, population growth and recreation - how should we address these challenges and how do we frame an inspiring and optimistic vision for the countryside? These are some of the questions to be explored in a talk which will range widely from the identification of a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, to post carbon living; from the fallacy of an economy founded on continuous growth to the pale green wash of sustainable communities and eco towns. It will also explore policy making in government and the role of CPRE in influencing government locally, regionally and nationally and making the vision for the countryside a reality. Andy Brown is a professional biologist and conservationist, and Chair of the CPRE’s national Policy Committee. He was involved with the Nature Conservancy Council from 1983 and became Chief Executive of English Nature in 2002. There he led improvements to management of protected areas and making links with health, well-being and enjoyment of nature. Currently, he is a Board Member of the Environment Agency and a Council member of the RSPB. Supper will follow afterwards. (If you wish to reserve a place for supper the cost is £10.00 per head) For those who wish to contribute to the Wiltshire Landscape Character Assessment (LCA), the draft is available from WCC on the following [link] |
| CPRE, Wiltshire Branch,
Lansdowne House, Long Street, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 1NJ Tel: 01380 722157 | Fax: 0870 831 0066 | Email: wiltscpre@btconnect.com Web: www.cprewiltshire.org.uk National site: www.cpre.org.uk The Campaign to Protect Rural England exists to promote the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England by encouraging the sustainable use of land and other natural resources in town and country. CPRE is not responsible for the content, services or reliability of links to external websites. Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | All content © CPRE unless otherwise stated. Last update: 20 April 2008 |
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