UGLY satellite dishes could sprout up in the New Forest National Park and the beautiful Dorset countryside if proposals go ahead to relax controls in conservation areas.
John Prescott is expected to relax the rules on the siting of satellite dishes in the National Parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty in a bid to boost digital and broadband technology.
Ministers are keen for the digital revolution to be available nationwide and satellite is the only solution for many rural areas.
But the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) says it is important planning rules stay in place to protect the local countryside.
Hampshire branch chairman Christopher Napier said: "It is very important that areas like the New Forest are protected and one of the ways of doing this is through the planning process.
"At the moment local people can have their say by taking part in the debate during the planning process.
"But if satellite dishes are not subject to the full planning process there is a danger they could start cropping up around the countryside.
"You only have to look at telecommunication masts, which do not need to undergo the full planning process if they are less than 15 metres high, and the impact they have had on the countryside.
"And there is a particular need not to relax the Conservation Area rules to detract from the conservation scene of the built-up area."
Susan Bennett, who speaks for the CPRE in Dorset, said: "When you think how very successfully Lady Bankes at Corfe Castle and the owners of Abbotsbury kept all the visual intrusion out for centuries and kept the villages charming, it would be awful to have these great dishes sprouting out all over the place to pick up the ghastly ephemera of television stations.
"It should not happen."
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has suggested five options on satellite dishes - ranging from the status quo to the scrapping of all regulations - to go out to consultation.
And the most contentious proposal is the relaxation of controls in conservation areas.
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