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As the government prepares to relax planning regulations and allow our Green and Pleasant Land to be further concreted over, the English Democrats say enough is enough. We expose another Tory betrayal of England. Shaun Spiers, chief executive of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Engalnd (CPRE) has criticised the proposals stating: "Unless the Government thinks again, its proposals will cause irreversible damage to both our towns and countryside." He went on to say: "...the Government's planning reforms are more about boosting short term growth figures than about truly sustainable development." He added: "The Government's proposals to skew the planning system in favour of economic development at the expense of environmental and social considerations are unlikely to result in more development, just more poor quality development on greenfield land." The CPRE are not the only ones to openly criticise the government's proposals. The National Trust are also completely opposed to the proposals. The National Trust's director-general Dame Fiona Reynolds said the plans are "fundamentally wrong". She went on to say: "It's not a case of a simple rewrite of a few words here or there – the general tone of the planning framework is fundamentally wrong. There is also concern that the reforms will devastate historic sites. English Heritage fear proposed changes to the planning regulations will result in England's rich historic environment being harmed by allowing building and development to take place on heritage sites with "no or little justification required". English Heritage say the proposed changes, which will see councils automatically grant planning applications under a new policy of "presumption for development", will degrade the protection currently afforded listed buildings, historic sites such as battlefields, national monuments and gardens. It is clear that the new planning proposals are just another Tory betrayal of middle England – the very people who elected them. The government has tried to defend the proposals citing that they are necessary to help stimulate the economy and ease the looming housing crisis. The 'housing crisis' the Tories speak of is just a symptom of another one of their broken promises – this time on immigration. Last week we published an article on the overcrowding of England. It can be found here. We discussed the way the Tories had reneged on their election pledges to cut immigration and control our borders. One of the direct results of unchecked mass immigration is the need for more housing and the destruction of our countryside. More worrying is that as we run out of space, as English Heritage have warned, we risk losing historic sites to provide more housing for our rapidly growing population. The English Democrat policy on housing is clear: "Housing supply and pricing is being severely distorted by the levels of immigration into England. First time buyers find it difficult to afford a home of their own and need to take on large mortgages and the attendant interest payments, in order to do so. Social housing is currently insufficient to meet demand." This distortion in the demand for housing and the increased demand for social housing is fuelling government policy that will lead to the destruction of our countryside. The English Democrats also have a clear policy on planning: "The English Democrats promote much tighter restrictions on green-field development and a better use of brown-field sites." Rather than building on green-field sites, we believe that the government should redevelop existing unused industrial and urban sites. Our countryside and its historical sites are central to our nation's rich heritage and need to be preserved for future generations. Destroying that heritage simply to facilitate mass immigration and supposedly 'boost' the economy is to destroy centuries of history and natural beauty for needless short term gain. The English Democrats are committed to saving England, its heritage, culture, history and its beautiful countryside. Our Green and Pleasant Land and needs to stay that way! You can read our full manifesto by clicking here.  Comments (7)Subscribe to this comment's feedShow/hide comments Good article
This is a very important issue and I am glad to see that we are campaigning on this.
Only a fool or a liberal would try and argue that mass immigration has nothing to do with pressure to build on green field sites.
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September 06, 2011
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A very important article. This is what happens when liberalism takes control of a supposedly 'conservative' party. Their betrayal of their members and supporters on the issue of immigration has lead to them trying to force plans through that will destroy our countryside and historic sites. What exactly are the Conservative Party conserving - other than the failed immigration policies of New Labour?
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September 07, 2011
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@ Bob, the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems all break promises. But you can read all about the English Democrat Mayor of Doncaster on this site. He's done a lot of good work for the people of Doncaster and hasn't broken any of his promises!
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September 10, 2011
Mrs
The reason the country is overcrowded, is because immigration is out of control, the EU say we have to take EU workers, come out of the EU and we can say no to EU, this will stop the building on our green belt.Oh and we could stop being soft to immigrants that would help too!
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September 10, 2011
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Save our Green and Pleasant Land
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Soon it will be too late and what will we have to show for it?