The Campaign to Protect Rural England has called for a radical rethink in the role of the countryside in tackling the climate emergency, in a report called ‘Greener, better, faster’.

As the government chooses how best to support the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, CPRE National and its Gloucestershire office is calling for the countryside to be at the forefront of climate action, so that rural communities do not bear the brunt of the climate emergency.

Climate change puts the farming industry at risk, with changing rainfall patterns and drier soil conditions threatening crop production.

The farming industry is not the only element of rural areas that is at risk, with biodiversity being hugely at risk due to altered temperature and rainfall patterns.

‘Greener, better, faster: countryside solutions to the climate emergency and for a green recovery’, a report by the CPRE, sets out how the countryside can be at the centre of the transformation for a net-zero carbon society, to ensure the climate emergency is tackled in a way that benefits those living and working in rural communities.

Adam Royle, spokesman for CPRE, says: ’We heard yet more of the Chancellor’s misguided and dangerous rhetoric on planning today. If the Government undermines sound planning, it will put sustainable economic growth at risk. Countries like Germany show that good economic performance and strong planning systems can go hand in hand.

’We will have to wait until next Tuesday when the final planning framework is to be published to see if the voices of reason in Government will yet win out.

’From the Chancellor’s words we fear the longstanding protection for the wider countryside will be abandoned. That would mean that 55% of English countryside, including many locally loved green spaces, could be placed at the mercy of developers.

’Also extremely worrying is the suggestion that communities may not be given any time to ensure their local plans conform to the new framework . This could leave more then one third of areas that don’t currently have a plan exposed to a crude ’presumption in favour of sustainable development’.

’On the basis of the budget statement, the Government’s promise that the planning reforms are about empowering local people looks very hollow indeed.’

The battle lines are clearly being drawn with the Prime Minister saying he is prepared to risk unpopularity over the issue according to this article in the Telegraph.