CPRE

Rows of solar panels in a field

Decision on controversial plans for Devon’s largest solar farm delayed pending site visit

A special meeting of Mid Devon’s Planning Committee was held remotely on the 31st March to consider a proposal to construct a massive solar farm with battery storage near the village of Langford.

About fifty members of the public, who object to plans for the biggest solar farm in Devon, attended the meeting to hear a report by the council’s Head of Planning, Economy and Regeneration...

A bank of solar panels against the sky

An industrialised solar farm landscape looms near Holsworthy in northwest Devon

Proposals for the latest and largest solar farm in Devon, adjacent to an existing one, would transform the pastoral scenery between Holsworthy and Bude into an ugly landscape of solar panels and security fencing stretching across 28 fields.

The Devon branch of the countryside charity CPRE says the rural vistas people have come to cherish more than ever during the pandemic will be...

New homes in the East Devon town of Cranbrook

Devon is building a third more houses than it has to according to government figures, says countryside charity

Devon’s Local Planning Authorities - with the exception of Torbay - have over-delivered on housing for the last five years, according to the government’s own figures.

Devon CPRE’s analysis of the 2020 Housing Delivery Test shows the county as a whole has delivered 30% more new homes than it was required to over a five-year period, in effect building 6,332 more houses than it had to....

Plaque for last year's winner of Devon's Best Churchyard

The search begins for Devon's Best Churchyard of 2021

During the pandemic, Devon’s residents have appreciated the green spaces around their churches like never before and now Devon CPRE is inviting churches of all denominations to enter this year’s competition to find the ‘Best Churchyard’ in the whole of the county.

Following a year with little to celebrate, Devon CPRE applauds the volunteers helping to maintain and ‘green up’ Devon’s...

CPRE's Star Count 2021

People in Devon are being urged to take part in an annual Star Count to record our view of the night sky.

Star Count is an annual citizen science project from CPRE, the countryside charity, and the British Astronomical Association. From 6-14 February 2021 , the public are asked to look heavenwards during a clear night and count how many stars within Orion they can spot.

Results from Star Count will help make a map of where star-spotters are enjoying deep, dark skies and where people’s views are affected by light pollution. By showing on a map where light...

A view of open countryside beside the A30 where a retail development has been refused consent

Campaigners jubilant as Planning Inspectorate dismisses appeal for controversial Whiddon Down ‘farm shop’ development

Countryside campaigners Devon CPRE are celebrating along with local residents after they joined forces to oppose a controversial retail development on greenfield land next to the A30 near Okehampton.

In the final twist in a long-running saga, the Planning Inspectorate today announced that an appeal by the applicant Jack Mann against West Devon Borough Council’s refusal to grant...

Devon's Best Churchyard 2020 winner's plaque in the churchyard at Northam

Northam named Devon’s Best Churchyard of 2020

Local countryside and conservation charity Devon CPRE is delighted to announce that St Margaret’s Church at Northam is the Winner of this year’s Devon’s Best Churchyard Competition. At the weekend a sustainable oak plaque and a cheque for £200 was awarded to representatives of the community of volunteers who help maintain this beautifully biodiverse churchyard on the north Devon coast....

Digging up Devon's fields for new homes

New housing algorithm will gobble up more countryside without delivering affordable homes, warns Devon CPRE

The government’s proposed new housing formula or ‘algorithm’ will fail to deliver the affordable new homes that rural communities in Devon so desperately need, according to new analysis from the countryside charity CPRE. Instead, the Government’s sweeping changes to local planning could lead to the worst of all possible worlds – the loss of more precious countryside without delivering the...

Devon CPRE - new homes on green fields in Okehampton, Devon

New housing algorithm will gobble up more countryside without delivering affordable homes, warns Devon CPRE

The government’s proposed new housing formula or ‘algorithm’ will fail to deliver the affordable new homes that rural communities in Devon so desperately need, according to a new analysis from the countryside charity CPRE. Instead, the Government’s sweeping changes to local planning could lead to the worst of all possible worlds – the loss of more precious countryside without delivering the...

One of the winning paintings 'Mannings Pit' by Graciella Sillence-Dreyer from Barnstaple's Pilton Bl

CPRE Devon inundated with competition entries from children in lockdown who showed they care about the countryside

Devon’s schoolchildren have shown how much they care about the countryside by entering CPRE Devon’s 2020 Art and Writing competitions in their droves. This year the Devon branch of the countryside charity CPRE received more entries than ever before and from all corners of the county.

In both competitions, held throughout the months of lockdown, primary schoolchildren demonstrated how...

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