The amount of greenfield land opened up for development in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty has doubled.
Permission has been granted for an average of 294 acres of greenfield development per year within England’s 34 AONBs since 2017, up from a previous five-year average of 128 acres.
Research commissioned by CPRE said that land was being “lost to build more executive homes”.
CPRE’s boss said the “approach just serves to line the pockets of greedy developers whilst undermining climate action, stalling nature’s recovery and gobbling up our most precious green space”.
