The Chiltern Society opposes development within the AONB which fails to conserve or enhance the natural beauty of the landscape. The Society also opposes any new development in the Green Belt which fails to protect its openness or undermines its purposes, including the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas and neighbouring towns merging into one another.
Government planning criteria and methodology is putting most local authorities in a position where they feel a need to take a cavalier and short sighted approach to the beauty and heritage of our special Chilterns landscape.
District councils in the Chilterns are putting the Green Belt, and even the AONB, at risk. A tidal wave of tens of thousands of new houses are planned across Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire. Some of these are on Green Belt and encroach the AONB. Local preferences and priorities are simply being ignored.
Do you care for the appearance of our lovely Chilterns countryside? Are you concerned about the increasing threat from unwarranted developments threatening the Green Belt and AONB?
One of the primary aims of our Planning Group is to firmly resist the worst excesses of the development wherever it can. Our Planning Field Officers are the unsung heroes of the Chiltern Society at the front line of our efforts to protect and enhance the Chilterns.
What do our Planning Field Offers (PFOs) do?
- Monitor and respond to planning applications throughout the Chilterns but especially those affecting the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), Green Belt and open countryside
- Act as respected consultants to Local Authorities regarding emerging planning documents that might affect the future development of the Chilterns area
- Examine and respond to draft Government guidance documents and other consultations
- Represent the Chiltern Society at public inquiries, hearings and examinations relating to local planning and development
We urgently need additional Planning Field Officers to help protect our Chiltern landscape and heritage.
The Chiltern Society Planning Group is always interested in new volunteers to fill PFO vacancies across the Chilterns. There are several vacancies for PFOs in the following areas;
- Dacorum
- Three Rivers
- Wycombe North
- Aylesbury Vale North
- South Buckinghamshire
- Central Bedfordshire (particularly Luton)
- North Hertfordshire
- South Oxfordshire
If you are interested in one of these vital PFO roles, please contact the Society Office on 01494 771250. Planning knowledge is not essential but would be helpful, guidance on the role will be provided.
