Almost 40 per cent of the English countryside is in neglect or suffering damage due to development of former greenfield sites, a study has found.

Many of the problems are caused by the poor financial returns from farming, which means that farmers cannot afford to improve the appearance of their land. As a result, empty buildings lie in disrepair, hedgerows are in poor condition, and woodlands are in decline.

The neglect is evident in areas as diverse as West Herefordshire, the Lancashire coast, the Vale of York, the North Kent plains and the Dorset Heaths and Downs.

The damage from new housing, motorways, power stations and power lines can be seen through swaths of England from the Severn and Avon vales to the Thames Valley, from the Wirral to the Humber and the Trent Valley.

The appearance of new development hotspots in traditionally rural areas such as Cumbria, North Yorkshire and the South Downs suggests that the growth of commuting is creating pressures beyond major towns and cities.

The study from two government advisory bodies, Natural England and English Heritage, audited changes in 159 areas of England between 1998 and 2003. Each area was checked for changes to woodland, hedges, dry-stone walls, quality of rivers, farming, number of houses and other developments.

About 10 per cent of the landscape studied, including the Fens, the Cotswolds, Salisbury Plain and the West Wiltshire Downs, and the North Yorkshire moors and Cleveland Hills, had improved.

A further 51 per cent of land, in the National Parks and other beauty spots, had been maintained and traditional features were well preserved.

Natural England says that where it has a strong role and influence the landscape is cherished. It hopes to extend its role as farmers are paid more to look after the landscape under reform of the Common Agriculture Policy.

Helen Phillips, Natural England’s chief executive, said: “Some of our treasured landscapes are suffering from decline and neglect. We want to celebrate the country’s local accent, such as honey-coloured dry-stone walls in the Cotswolds and hedgerows of the Midlands.

“Where Natural England can target agri-environment schemes and grants to make this happen on Sites of Special Scientific Interest, farms and in National Parks it is faring well.”

However, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is alarmed by the deterioration of the remaining 39 per cent of land in the study, 20 per cent due to a downturn in farming and 19 per cent because of new development.

It is particularly concerned that government plans for new houses and major infrastruc-ture projects from airports to nuclear power stations will put further pressure on Cambridge-shire, Hertfordshire, Essex and Bedfordshire, along the M4 corridor in Buckinghamshire, and around Ashford and north Kent. The campaign is also anxious about plans to increase development around Bristol, Oxford and Plymouth.

Tom Oliver, CPRE’s head of rural policy, said: “If 40 per cent of our hospitals or schools were suffering from serious neglect or damaging change, people would rightly be alarmed and wanting answers.

“This report shows we are at a turning point. Do we let much of the countryside become a free-fire zone for developers, whether they are building industrial sheds, roads, runways, wind farms or sprawling suburbs? Or do we take notice of the evidence that, if we want, we can have social and economic benefits without losing one of England’s greatest assets, its fabulous countryside?”

The audit was funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Barry Gardiner, the Rural Affairs Minister, said: “The way we manage our landscape is important to people’s quality of life. The results will be used to inform future government policy.”

Defra has already agreed to increase funding for agri-envrionment schemes. This will be £3.3 billion from this year to 2013, compared with £1.5 billion between 2000 and 2006.

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