CPRE Norfolk volunteer David Jones started out as a planning warden but has gone on to do much more.

As an Historic Building Conservator I became involved with CPRE in Norfolk out of a conviction that historic buildings are an integral part of the character of our rural landscape. Moreover, such buildings offer an, often overlooked, potential as a mechanism for preserving that landscape. Initially I volunteered to act as a planning warden in my local district in Norfolk.

The principal aim of this role is to look at the weekly lists of planning applications submitted to the district council and ‘flag up’ those applications that could, potentially, have an unnecessary adverse impact on the rural nature of Norfolk as a County. We currently live in a climate of huge pressure on scant public sector resources and I feel that CPRE Norfolk’s planning wardens provide a good supporting role to their districts planning departments.

I have since gone on to be involved with creating a nascent Brownfield Site Register for the County. Brownfield sites, and the recent Government initiative to provide funding for their redevelopment, represent an excellent opportunity to direct housing development away from greenfield land, land that is integral to the character of Norfolk and England as a whole.