Dear John,

We hope you're staying warm in what has been a chilly start to the year. We've been enjoying the snowdrops and the emerging crocuses. 

Love is in the air for our Hedgerow Heroes this February — or should we say, Hedgeuary — which you can read about at the end of this email.

But first, we’ve kicked off our centenary year with a flurry of different actions, events and updates — including a fantastic video from CPRE President, Mary-Ann Ochota, recounting 100 years of history in 100 seconds.

In policy, we secured a campaign win via the government’s new Warm Homes Plan, which outlined how solar panels will be fitted as standard on all new homes, including aims to triple the number of homes with rooftop solar by 2030.

We’re also busy preparing our response to the government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation — more on this below.

New polling launched on attitudes towards the countryside

On 3 February, we announced the findings of our new national polling, carried out by More in Common for CPRE, that explores how people think and feel about the countryside. We launched the report at a House of Lords reception hosted by Baroness Parminter, where we were joined by politicians, sector partners and network colleagues. There were speeches from Victoria Atkins, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Angela Eagle, Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs alongside CPRE CEO, Roger Mortlock, and CPRE President, Mary-Ann Ochota.

A great start to our centenary year 🎉

In January we launched our Letter to England, asking supporters to pledge their support for a beautiful and resilient countryside. Almost 7,000 people have signed the letter, and we’ve managed to raise over £6,000 to help our centenary campaigns thanks to your generosity!

Our chance to push for planning reform

In December, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) published a draft revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and announced a 12-week consultation period. The NPPF consultation could be our best chance yet of influencing decisions about what gets built where, and how. We’re hard at work preparing our response and cooking up plans for how you can get involved! Stay tuned.

Future Rural: Imagining Tomorrow’s Countryside

Our centenary book, Future Rural, published by Little Toller Books is now available for pre-order ahead of publication on 29 April. It brings together a powerful chorus of diverse voices—writers, farmers, activists, ecologists, and thinkers – and asks them to interrogate the past and present in order to imagine what lies ahead for Britain’s rural landscapes and communities.

This Hedgeuary, we’re feeling the love ❤️

Our Hedgerow Heroes have been busy planting and laying hedgerows up and down the country, come rain or shine. And this month, we have a special collaboration with Youngwilders, a youth-led nature recovery group, for ‘Hedgentines Day’ (we hope you’re enjoying the puns!). On 21 February, our local groups in Cheshire, Kent and Hampshire will host young people to plant scores of saplings, helping us get closer to our 100-mile centenary target.

Best wishes,