A STARK warning has been given over the threat of "building on greenfield sites unnecessarily" by members of the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

The CPRE fully supports the emphasis in the East Hampshire local plan joint core strategy plan for protection of the countryside and natural environment, and the assessment of housing numbers needed over the next 15 years.

But the Joint Core Strategy is "unsound and unjustified" because of some critical inconsistencies with new national planning guidance, the CPRE said.

Christopher Napier, chairman of CPRE Hampshire's planning and policy Group, said: "We strongly support the priority given in the plan to use of brownfield land for development before greenfield, but this needs further emphasis in policy wordings.

"The new joint core strategy needs to support countryside protection by minimising use of greenfield sites both inside and outside the South Downs National Park."

Full story in this week's Herald.