Two government agencies will slam the Sustainable Communities Plan in a joint report this week, according to The Guardian. The Countryside Agency and English Nature will warn that government plans to build more than 4 million homes pose “serious risk” of damage to “nationally important landscapes and habitats.” The report will say the huge building scheme will degrade the character of the English landscape, fragment natural habitats, and require water supplies that would have an unsustainable impact on the environment. The two agencies state that the government’s approach is “contrary to the concept of sustainability.” An ODPM spokesman defended the government’s plans: “The pressure for new homes is not caused by the government but by an aging and growing population and more people living alone. Over the last 30 years we have seen a 40% increase in the number of new households but a 50% drop in the number of new homes being built. This is not sustainable development.” The report will be given to the official inquiry into the east of England plan, set out in the regional spatial strategy which opens on Tuesday. (The Guardian)