What now for Devon’s countryside?

The British electorate has resolutely voted for change, heralding the appointment of Keir Starmer as our new Prime Minister, along with a significant number of new Devon MPs. Since the election, we at the Devon branch of the countryside charity CPRE have been taking stock of this radical shake-up and analysing what Labour’s policies are likely to mean for our rural landscapes and communities. We look forward to working with all of our local politicians as closely as we have with most of them over recent years, to push forward our key policies of protecting Devon’s prime pasture land from unsuitable and unnecessary development and prioritising affordable housing for local people. In her first speech as Chancellor, Rachel Reeves MP, highlighted the new government’s priorities, some of which we welcome, while others give us cause for concern: On housing, she said that Labour will not give the ‘green light’ to any kind of housing development, emphasising the need to build social and affordable homes. This is encouraging. We badly need to build the right kind of homes in the right places at prices people here in Devon can afford, and we have been saying so for years. However, the Chancellor also said that the government intends to restore mandatory housing targets, which we have long argued are not based on real housing need in our part of the country and are skewed by the demand in more populated areas. She also said the government will review green belt boundaries to identify brownfield and grey belt land to meet housing targets. While we don’t have any green belt land here in Devon, we welcome Labour’s stated policy of prioritising brownfield land for housing and would like to see them do the same for new solar power installations.

On wider development issues, Rachel Reeves said that Labour will reform the national planning policy framework in order to deliver infrastructure. There’s no doubting the need to improve the infrastructure supporting the large-scale housing developments popping up at an alarming rate across Devon, and scope to improve rail connections to take the pressure off our roads. That said, the Chancellor set our alarm bells ringing because she also stated that decisions on large projects will be taken nationally, rather than locally. So much for local democracy and listening to people on the ground. It’s too early to know what Labour’s planning reforms will mean; will they respect the countryside and rural communities or give more power to politicians and civil servants at Westminster, who have in the past shown an acute lack of understanding about rural issues.

We are also very concerned about Labour’s commitment to scrapping the moratorium on new onshore wind developments. Labour’s energy policy includes plans to double the amount of onshore wind power and triple the amount of solar power - with all the mega batteries and power lines that will entail. We fear this could have a devastating impact on Devon’s landscape, on local communities and on farming and food production.

As more detail emerges, Devon CPRE will continue to fight hard for what we believe is right for our countryside. If you aren’t already a member, we hope you will consider joining us as we campaign to keep Devon’s precious countryside special, while strengthening our local economy and providing homes that local people can afford. Devon CPRE relies on membership subscriptions and donations to support its work to protect the countryside for future generations. Will you join us? Find out more at www.devoncpre.org.uk