. . . and Disraeli’s favourite vista is set to be blighted by scores of new homes
FOR Victorian Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, it was one of the most beautiful views ‘not only in the county of Buckingham, but in England!’
But now the idyllic Chilterns vista visible from his country home of Hughenden Manor is set to be spoiled by 50 new houses.
The land near High Wycombe is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, but could still be blighted by the new development as part of efforts to tackle Britain’s housing crisis.
The project is one of dozens planned across the country that could encroach on treasured beauty spots.
Lucy Murfett, planning officer for the Chiltern Conservation Board, recognised the ‘huge need for development’ across the UK, but said: ‘The finest and most beautiful parts of the countryside must be protected and kept special.’
Protesters say the planned homes will ‘creep up the slopes of the valley’ and blight the magnificent view from Hughenden Manor – a vast mansion built in the Gothic revival style and now owned by the National Trust – to the monument to Disraeli’s father, the author Isaac D’Israeli, that sits in its 680-acre grounds.
In the past five years, rural land a third the size of London has been lost to development, including new homes in or close to such beauty spots as the Kent Downs, the South Downs, the High Weald and the North Wessex Downs.
Now the Campaign to Protect Rural England is calling for more housing in cities rather than encroaching on the countryside.
Matt Thomson, the body’s head of planning, said: ‘Vast areas of the countryside are under threat.’
Campaigners want more homes to be built on previously developed ‘brownfield’ sites rather than on the green belt.
Guidelines say councils should refuse planning permission for major development except in exceptional circumstances. But there is no definition of ‘a major development’ and planners are approving schemes that stretch to hundreds of homes.
Mr Thomson added: ‘We need a national definition of a major development being anything over ten dwellings.
‘And we need better use of the land with higher density housing so we don’t get this sprawl in the countryside. We recognise the housing crisis but we need a “brownfield first” policy.’
A Housing Ministry spokesman insisted: ‘Building the homes our country needs doesn’t mean ruining our countryside.
‘We are making sure councils are exhausting all opportunities, including building on brownfield land at higher densities.’