CPRE

Devon CPRE trustee & energy spokesperson Dr Phillip Bratby has welcomed the decision

Significant win for Devon CPRE campaign as Mid Devon refuses Langford solar farm proposal

The Devon branch of the countryside charity CPRE is celebrating a significant win for its campaign against massive solar farms on agricultural land after Mid Devon councillors yesterday (22 Sept) ratified a decision to turn down a 150-acre solar farm and battery storage facility at Langford.

Seven members of Mid Devon’s planning committee voted to refuse the controversial application,...

Protestors against the Yelland development on the Taw estuary in North Devon

North Devon Council refuses luxury holiday village in sensitive Taw estuary landscape

Devon CPRE, the local branch of the countryside charity, today (9 June) congratulated North Devon Council for overwhelmingly voting to refuse an application to build 250 premium houses and apartments on the bank of the Taw estuary at Yelland Quay.

The site, where a small coal-fired power station stood between the 1950s and the 1980s, is in a noted wildlife habitat. It’s adjacent to an...

Photovoltaic solar panels against the sky

Devon's countryside charity dismayed at approval for the county's biggest solar farm to date

Devon CPRE is dismayed that plans for yet another massive solar farm - the largest so far in Devon - were today unanimously approved by North Devon's planning committee.

An application submitted by ND Solar Enterprises Ltd, a shell company based in Bristol, has been given the go-ahead despite impassioned speeches from members of the local independent charity which fights to protect...

Muck on country roads caused by vehicles carrying liquid digestate to ADs  (photo: Devon CPRE)

Massive lagoon and expansion of industrial anaerobic digesters has to stop

Devon CPRE believes the expansion of anaerobic digesters (ADs) has to be curtailed to protect rural communities and the countryside, as fourteen villages and hamlets join forces to protest against development plans for an industrial-scale lagoon near Upton Pyne. This facility will act as a massive storage and distribution centre west of Exeter for liquid digestate, a by-product of ADs....

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...

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