The Colne Valley is facing unprecedented pressures and is fighting for its life to maintain its vital role as high quality, wildlife rich, productive and accessible green space for local people.
We have sent a briefing note outlining the situation to local MPs and Local Councils.
If you will agree that this requires urgent action please speak to your MP and your local Councillors to ask them to act for your local environment and rivers, before it’s too late.
The Threats
- Unprecedented development pressure including HS2, Heathrow expansion, motorway service areas, ‘technology parks’, Pinewood theme park, housing etc refer to these maps.
The cumulative effect will be
a) to drastically reduce the huge benefits the Colne Valley provides for millions of people in relation to recreation, health, wellbeing and access to nature;
b) further decline of biodiversity and increasing habitat fragmentation;
c) further decline of the rural economy as productive farmland is lost.
- No coordinated vision or strategy for all of the above development proposals.
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Developers & Government appear to have lost sight of the positive aspects to green belt (recreation, wildlife, farming etc) and instead see it as a barrier to development that needs to be overcome.
- The Colne Valley Regional Park has insufficient protection, status and powers
- Pollution crisis in our rivers due to lack of investment and lack of resources for the Environment Agency (or others) to enforce on pollution incidents.
- Landscape quality declining fast
The Future?
The current situation is not sustainable.
Our predecessors had the wisdom to establish the Green Belt and the Colne Valley Regional Park over fifty years ago. The Park has an important role to play for countryside recreation, nature conservation, food production and as a gateway and buffer to the Chilterns. However, the current threats to the CVRP are unprecedented and unless they can be addressed are an existential threat to its survival. The baton has passed to us…
Action is needed now if the Colne Valley Regional Park is to survive for future generations to enjoy.
For comprehensive details on these arguments please refer to the briefing note.
Protecting the Colne Valley Regional Park from so many threats is a big expectation from a small team with very little core funding.
If you would like to contribute to the costs of planning consultants to inform our responses to the multiple development threats to the Colne Valley Regional Park please consider donating.
View from the Old Orchard, Harefield.
The 9 MPs whose constituencies include part of the Colne Valley Regional Park
| Constituency | Name |
| Uxbridge | Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP |
| Ruislip Northwood & Pinner | David Simmonds MP |
| Hayes & Harlington | John McDonnell MP |
| Windsor | Adam Afriyie MP |
| Slough | Tan Dhesi MP |
| Beaconsfield | Joy Morrissey MP |
| Chesham & Amersham | Sarah Green MP |
| SW Hertfordshire | Gagan Mohindra MP |
| Spelthorne | Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP |
