Our busy team of volunteers try to keep an eye on major planning applications which could cause significant harm to our countryside and, where we can, we submit detailed comments and speak at Planning Committees to try to influence planning decisions.

Affordable housing helps to keep villages alive and keeps communities strong.  It is widely recognised that affordable housing should be a priority for new building in the countryside yet, often, schemes are compromised by market forces and developers who plead that they cannot aford to include the expected percentage of affordable homes.

Living and working in the countryside is increasingly difficult for very many people on lower household incomes. The Commission for Rural Communities found that the average rural house costs almost seven times the average annual rural household income in 2007.

There are many planning challenges currently facing Somerset including housing, wind turbines, solar parks, Hinkley C power station, quarrying, waste and transport infrastructure. We consider each one on its merits and ask: it is appropriate? Is it needed? What impact will it have on our countryside and our communities?  

Good land-use planning is the unsung hero of environmental protection and has always been one of CPRE's top campaigning priorities.

Do you want to keep Somerset’s countryside beautiful?

ŸAre you worried about a potential development in your area?

ŸDon’t know what to do?

Here is our guide to help you .......

In spite of the unprecedented loss of grade 1 agricultural land, the foolish policy that saw the wholesale destruction of ancient orchards and the baleful growth of intensively reared animals, Somerset is still a county blessed with the highest quality of traditionally reared meat, internationally acclaimed dairy products, orchards with treasured old fashioned varieties of apples, farm shops and markets, boutique vineyards, as well as the eponymous Somerset cider producers.

Population, globally and nationally, is growing.  In the United Kingdom population is forecast by the Office of National Statistics to grow by about 10 million to 70 million by the year 2030.  This is the basis of predicted housing needs.

At the same time, the cost of imported food is likely to increase faster than locally grown food because of higher transport costs.  The need for a transition to a farming system less dependent on oil (such as organic farming) is self evident as is a need for growing food locally.

We must protect our farmland from development.

We strongly support the countryside stewardship role played by our farmers. Farmers are crucial in maintaining and protecting the beauty and diversity of our countryside. Their opinions matter.

Darkness at night is one of the things that defines the countryside and makes it so different from towns and cities. But that darkness is disappearing, and with it our view of the stars and planets. Nationally, CPRE has campaigned for many years for protection for our dark skies following survey work which showed that light pollution in the South West increased by 17% between 1993 and 2000.

What is so special about Somerset?