The Campaign to Protect Rural England may be best known for running the annual Best Kept Village competition, but as Mike Manson explains, the organisation’s work reaches much further.

WILTSHIRE IS largely a rural county with huge areas of wonderful countryside, including large parts of three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty: the North Wessex Downs, Cranborne Chase and the Cotswolds. In the centre is Salisbury Plain, which, because it is partially inaccessible due to military training, is a haven for wildlife, some of which is very rare.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) continues to work hard to retain as much as possible of our county’s countryside. It has huge value for all of us, both as an area to visit and to enjoy, and also as an important resource to help in our nation’s efforts to deal with the impacts of climate change. In a recent CPRE national survey at least 86% of those questioned stated that they thought that our countryside is good for wellbeing and that it should be possible for everyone to enjoy it, which means that we must ensure that they have good access to it: 79% of those surveyed felt that the countryside is good for our economy.

CPRE’s work is effectively carried out at three levels. Nationally it influences government policies, at county level it seeks to influence major planning decisions affecting large areas, and at town and parish level it is involved in local planning work by submitting well-justified, valid comments.

One of the ways that CPRE helps to promote our countryside is through its annual Best Kept Village Competition (BKVC). By entering, villages are encouraged to present themselves as well as possible by clearing litter and tidying public areas to make them look more attractive. But this does not mean mowing everywhere, nor the use of toxic chemicals for weed control. Credit is given for efforts to establish and maintain local conservation areas, whether they are large meadows or very small parcels of land in, or beside, public areas.

Over the past 13 years, 124 different villages have entered this competition, over one half of all those eligible. Some enter every year, others quite often, and a few enter very occasionally. It is not true that the same villages win every time, nor that the “prettiest” villages have an advantage. In the past 15 years, 39 different villages have won at district and/or county level. Some take it more seriously than others, but in all of them people look out for littering, unsightly advertising or signs of neglect throughout the year, so preparation for judging (in May, June and/or July) is not a big task. A well-managed parish steward can also be an advantage. A few years ago, at least one village was only a few points behind the winner without doing anything special before the judging period!

The competition can also provide a focus for various village groups and engender greater community spirit. This is a factor that particularly impresses the president of CPRE Wiltshire, the lord-lieutenant Mrs Sarah Rose Troughton. The culmination of each year’s competition is when she unveils the standards at each of the winning villages. They always take great pride in their efforts being recognised in this way. There is usually a large turnout and villagers have the opportunity to chat over coffee, lunch or tea, to the lord-lieutenant, the high sherriff, and senior members of Wiltshire Council.

If you would like your village to enter this year, speak to your parish councillors and offer to help them with the entry submission – it is not time consuming and is easy to do.

‘The competition provides a focus for village groups ’

While the BKVC naturally concentrates on the area around the majority of housing, much larger areas need to be kept in good condition as well. Sadly, dropping litter and fly-tipping are increasing problems in the county. This occurs through negligence, for economic reasons (to avoid paying charges) and simply because some people cannot be bothered to use the council-provided recycling centres. Plastic pollution of the world’s seas has received considerable publicity in recent years and is leading to promising efforts to reduce and, ideally, eliminate it. But pollution of our countryside, with plastic and other materials, also needs to be tackled.

As well as damaging the environment it spoils enjoyment of the countryside. Anyone can easily report incidents to Wiltshire Council and CPRE will support such activity.

CPRE is very concerned with the consequences that so much new house building in the county will have on water management and water conservation. Thousands of new homes, frequently on flood risk areas or near major watercourses, will have a wide effect on the natural systems. Not only is there concern with water run-off management but also with water conservation. Despite the heavy rains experienced last autumn and this spring the trend is for reduced rainfall. Swindon is officially a water stressed zone.

Changing climate patterns undoubtedly mean having to change our current lifestyles. These changes include how and where we build new homes, the means by which we will travel, and the diet that we will eat. This will affect our countryside in a way not seen since the Industrial Revolution: in the manner it is farmed and used by people, the way in which it will be valued environmentally and financially, and the way it will look visually. CPRE works to ensure that new environmental policies will be robust, fair, enforceable and prepared for big changes.

An excellent new model for achieving the right homes in the right places for the right people are the Community Land Trusts. Residents are creating Community Land Trusts to take ownership of land and buildings and are using them to develop a range of different opportunities for the community. They consider homes, workspaces, community facilities, green energy installations, plots to grow food, and woodlands. There are already several such trusts set up in Wiltshire.

‘The countryside in its many forms needs to be valued ’

Rural roads in the county have recently seen a dramatic rise in their use. Mostly this is due to them becoming rat runs as drivers try to escape from congestion on major roads, but also from the growing demands of online shopping with the resulting fleets of delivery vans. The Wiltshire countryside and those who live in the villages are the ones who suffer as the narrow hedge-lined roads are full of blind bends and roadside houses were never intended for such heavy use.

New road building schemes or road improvement schemes slice through open landscapes which are highly valued, especially by those who live near them. The collateral damage can range from destruction of wildlife corridors and higher noise levels, to intrusive lighting and the spoiling of landscape views. Moreover, it seems that air pollution may not just be an urban issue.

New energy sources and the way we develop them in the context of our countryside is a matter for debate. CPRE lobbies for housing developments to be more self-reliant on energy requirements, for example, using air or ground heat pump systems.

If the next generations are going to be able to enjoy the Wiltshire countryside in the way that past and present ones have, then the countryside in its multiple forms must be better understood and valued. It is an irreplaceable asset that has had to suffer many forms of erosion, much of it by the human species. Climate change, when combined with current practices within the development and agricultural industries, rings alarm bells. WL

• If you would like to find out more about CPRE, or to join, look at the website (search for CPRE Wiltshire) or email admin@cprewiltshire.org.uk, or phone 01380 722157.


This article originally appeared in the April 2020 issue of Wiltshire Life. To subscribe please click here.

Check out our Welcome to Wiltshire guide with things to do, charity updates and more