THE region's open countryside is under serious threat from developers and changes in farming, it was claimed yesterday.

The warning was made by North-East and North Yorkshire members of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

It came as the CPRE published a report claiming England could lose much of its open countryside within a single generation - unless current trends are reversed.

The document, entitled Your Countryside, Your Choice, opens with a portrait of England in 2035, in which the countryside has all but disappeared from much of England.

Tom Oliver, head of rural policy at the CPRE, said: "Whether it's the prospect of a new generation of roads and airports carving up what's left of the countryside, rampant new housing schemes put up with little thought to the environmental consequences, or the abandonment of farming to the tender mercies of world markets alone, the present direction of many official policies is grim.

"Most initiatives to protect and enhance the countryside are overwhelmed by the scale of the present threats."

CPRE members from North Yorkshire cited plans by the University of York to build a new campus on more than 250 acres of green belt land to the south of the city as an example of unnecessary urban sprawl.

They say changes to farmers' subsidies could drive many hill farmers out of business, causing major damage to the landscapes they farmed.

They are also angry that a planning application for a wind farm near Harrogate was approved this week.

John Farquhar, a committee member with the North Yorkshire branch of the CPRE, said: "Wind turbines are a blot on the landscape and they are likely to be placed on some of the most valuable landscapes."

Dr Glen Reynolds, chairman of the North-East branch of the CPRE, said: "We have got some of the most beautiful countryside in Britain in the North-East.

"But there's a risk of us losing aspects. What we need to do is ensure there's a balance between sustainable development and retaining that beauty."

The CPRE report calls on the Government to commit to new policy objectives to secure the future of the countryside - including continuing to pay farmers to manage the countryside and ensuring many new homes are built on previously developed land.