Conservation groups opposed to plans for millions of new homes in the British countryside are meeting in London.

They fear the countryside is being threatened by a wave of new housebuilding to meet demand for 4.4 million new homes in the next century.

Delegates will be told that housing on greenfield sites is taking over from road-building as the biggest campaigning issue in rural areas.

They will hear calls for greater use to be made of derelict sites in towns and cities.

Hampshire County Council is grappling with a huge projected demand for new houses.

One of their proposed solutions is to build a vast new town near Micheldever, midway between Winchester and Basingstoke.

Most locals are appalled by the idea.

"Most people who live round here do so because it's a rural area. If they wanted to live in a town they would go and live in a town," said one.

Julian Smith, of the Housebuilders' Federation, argues the case for developing greenfield sites (3' 41")

Dr Simon Festing of Friends of the Earth, who is organising the event with the Alliance Against Roadbuilding Menace (Alarm UK), believes co-ordination is the key to success.

Greenfield development could be taxed

"What we want to do is to bring people together so instead of acting on their own local patch, they are co-ordinating into an effective fighting force," he said.

Tony Burton, Assistant Director of the Council for the Protection of Rural England, will tell the workshop that cars and exhaust fumes can be cut by at least a third by building homes in towns and cities.

"By making better use of run-down urban land and buildings and improving the quality of urban life, we can reduce traffic and the threat from global warming as well as protect the countryside and regenerate our towns," he said.

The Planning Minister Richard Caborn is expected to announce details on household growth before the summer.

He has already indicated the government is looking at a range of ideas to discourage urban sprawl, including taxes on greenfield development to pay for clearing up derelict inner city sites for low-cost starter homes.

Last December West Sussex County Council became the first local authority to revolt against the home building plans when it was announced it would have to increase by nearly a third the number of new homes built within its borders by 2011.

It is now seeking a judicial review in what could be a landmark case.
 

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