Local News

24 September 2008 by Louise Gray, The Telegraph

Zac launches campaign to save Britain's gardens

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent for The Telegraph

Environmentalist Zac Goldsmith has launched a campaign to save Britain's gardens.

Mr Goldsmith, a Tory Party candidate, wants to halt the increasing use of gardens to build new houses. And he is urging people to become Nimbies - Not In My Back Yard - to halt the loss of garden space.

He has launched a new website to galvanise opposition to "garden grabbing" offering practical advice on how to fight proposed new developments.

The former editor of The Ecologist, who once said he might become an eco-terrorist, said: "What kind of person does not care about their own backyard?

"It would be irresponsible not to. You cannot expect other people to fight for you, you have to fight for yourself to protect your area and your community. I think people should be proud of that. I believe in Nimbyism. I am a Nimby myself."

The Tory candidate for Richmond initially launched www.protectourgreenspaces.com to help campaigns against unpopular developments in his own constituency.

He claims around a third of new homes in the London area are being built on former residential gardens - a figure that has doubled from an average of only 15 per cent during Labour's first eight years in office.

"Residents feel helpless as their concerns are overlooked and garden after garden is lost to new developments," he said.

"It is about protecting our green spaces. It is what makes London different to other cities. Our parks, our gardens, our open spaces. It is what makes London a good place to live."

However with "garden grabbing" an issue throughout Britain, he hopes the template for protesting against unpopular planning decisions will help campaigners for green urban spaces throughout the country.

An adviser to leader David Cameron on environmental issues, Mr Goldsmith is campaigning for reform of the planning system so power is handed back to local authorities. At the moment he said councils are being squashed by "powerful developers and overruled by central government bureaucrats" on a daily basis.

The website provides a toolkit for those protesting against planning decisions in their area including templates for letters and contacts for environmentalists, experts on flooding and conservationists who may help in a fight to protect green space. It is also an opportunity for campaigners to swap information and ideas for successful campaigns.

Mr Goldsmith is calling for gardens to be reclassified as greenfield, rather than brownfield sites. This would afford them more protection.

"The problem is that gardens have no real protection," he said. "Instead of being cherished as havens for wildlife, not to mention the sheer pleasure they bring communities, they have the status of neglected industrial wasteland," he said.

He also wants tax reform to encourage people to build on existing sites rather than greenfield sites. This would be done by increasing the tax for building on new greenfield sites and using the money to cut taxes on extensions.

Lastly, Mr Goldsmith is calling for an improved high speed rail network to ease the pressure on development in London.

Mr Goldsmith, who is a passionate advocate of localism, is due to speak on direct democracy at the Conservative Party conference.