The charity was first registered on 14 January 1966 and works across the county to protect and enhance a beautiful, thriving countryside for everyone to value and enjoy.
CPRE Hampshire is part of the national CPRE organisation which celebrates 90 years of campaigning nationally in 2016. Over the years CPRE has played a leading role in establishing National Parks, Green Belts, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the town and country planning system.
Chairman, Dee Haas said: “”In 1966 CPRE Hampshire was formed to defend the Hampshire countryside and its towns and villages for the enjoyment of all. Fifty years later, our objectives are as valid as ever and the threats to the countryside ever more potent.
This year we celebrate our many successes, one of the most important being the creation of the South Downs National Park including the wonderful countryside of the Western Weald, to which our own countryside hero, Christopher Napier OBE, recognised in this year’s New Year’s Honours, made an important contribution.
The constant daily work of our volunteers and staff, the quality of the advocacy which emerges from CPRE as a whole, and our passion for our beautiful Hampshire countryside, with its towns and villages, has built CPRE Hampshire’s excellent reputation over the last 50 years, long may it continue!”
CPRE Hampshire’s major campaigning successes also include supporting New Forest National Park (NFNP) status; protecting unspoilt coastline at Dibden Bay in the NFNP; and campaigning against threats to North Hampshire Downs and East Hampshire AONBs and locally valued landscapes.