'The unique character of our countryside is being destroyed by a far-reaching agricultural revolution,' says Marion Shoard , author of The Theft of the Countryside. She and Lord Melchett, farmer and conservationist, believe that this is a national scandal. Farmers, they say, are one of the most subsidised sectors of society; destroying hedgerows, wetlands and woods in their search for greater productivity. Tonight they meet farmers from the Midlands to argue that planning controls should be extended to cover the countryside and that the whole community should have a say in the future of the land.