The Government’s consultation and revision of the National Planning Policy Framework concludes on May 10.

It should concern all residents of the South Hams, given that so much of our county is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Most people quite rightly do not have the time or inclination to pour though the 150 pages of dull Government policy speak, something that the Goverment relies on so that it can make sweeping changes without anybody noticing.

All the local amenity groups, such as ours, make responses to the document as a whole and again, a bland proposal is met with a broad and bland response.

However, as last year’s inspiring public response to our own council’s ‘consultation’ on developing Kingsbridge Quay illustrated, strong public opinion can sway public policy if it is specifically targeted and not broad based. SHDC’s plan to build luxury flats on the quay was shelved after it was met with universal public derision.

Therefore, the Goverment’s attempts to revise the NPPF should be met with specific opposition to the most critical points.

In the case of South Devon, the two crucial paragraphs within the existing NPPF are 115 and 116 which give the AONB its protection and provides concrete tests of why building should not be undertaken.

Since they are effective in preventing building, the Goverment wishes to remove them and replace them with a bland new guideline, NPPF 170.

The language of the new guideline is so vague and meaningless that it opens the door for developers to build right across our AONBs.

The question that we hear at the CPRE so many times in the South Hams is how did we get to this point of so much building?

The answer was the relaxing of the planning laws in 2011.

This review is one of those points in history where the Government would wish that nobody notices.

Then in three or four years, you’ll be walking along the coastal path in Berry Head, or Gara Rock or above Bantham and you will see building on all the beautiful viewpoints and wonder how it was allowed.

And the answer, will be the revising of these two effective guidelines to render them useless!

The developers are struggling to sell their newly built estates even with the Government’s help to buy scheme being extended to new houses of up to £600,000, certainly not what the public thought this programme was for. Therefore, the chance to build without question on AONB’s provides an opportunity where the developers could shift houses faster than hot cross buns at Easter.

So who will protect us?

The AONB trusts seem reluctant to challenge these revisions. Perhaps their objections are muted as they are part funded by the local Councils which in turn, need the money from the building of new houses. So it is left to residents to care enough to fight.

Therefore, it is essential that you call your parish, district and county councillors to account, amenity groups such as the CPRE and the South Hams Society and see how they are responding and even write your own concern to your MP.

In short, if you value the AONB in the South Hams, you need to be aware that it is under threat and therefore you need to act.

Justin Haque and Dr Katy Bowen

Campaign to Protect Rural England , South Hams branch