Independent

All plans for new housebuilding have been frozen over a massive area of the Home Counties to protect three species of rare birds in the most remarkable clash yet between environment and development in Britain.

Concerns about the welfare of the nightjar, the woodlark and the Dartford warbler have halted schemes for building thousands of homes over an expanse of nearly 300 square miles, stretching from the M25, west of London, almost to Reading. The unprecedented moratorium has come about because the hitherto-irresistible force of the housing boom in the South-east has run into the immovable object of European Union wildlife protection law, which safeguards the three bird species in a formidable way.

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Since October last year the agency has formally objected to any housing application within five kilometres of the SPA. These 5km zones link together to form an oval area 30 miles across at its widest point and 15 miles deep, taking in such towns as Guildford, Woking, Camberley, Bracknell and Ascot – the very heartland of booming south-east England, “Britain’s California” – where demand for new housing development is immense.

The 11 local councils concerned, following legal advice, are now refusing every housing application for the area. It is impossible to give a precise figure for new houses put on hold, but local builders estimate that plans for more than 3,000 new homes have already been stalled. But if the issue is not resolved, that total is certain to rise steeply. The new housing allocation for the 11 councils is 40,000, of which about 35,000 fall inside the affected area – that is, within five kilometres of one of the heaths. Some of these have been built so a figure of 20,000 new homes likely to be held up is probably nearer the true picture.

It’s a longer article, worth reviewing.

These are the areas over which I cycle to get to work, and the areas which surround them; I welcome any revisitation of the building in the area not least – but still significantly – because I’ve always wanted to see a Dartford Warbler since I was a kid, so I would therefore prefer them not to go extinct in England.