Green belt

[edit] Introducing the green belt

As the global human population has increased, and people have moved from rural to urban communities, so towns and cities have expanded, spreading along roads in ribbon developments and through the creation of low-density suburbs surrounding older, inner neighbourhoods.

It has long been recognised that it can be beneficial to control this urban sprawl:

The notion of a ‘green belt’ was first mooted in 1580, when Elizabeth I established a three-mile wide cordon sanitaire around London, prohibiting housing development where there had not been a building in living memory. By all accounts this proclamation was widely ignored.

In January 1914, Aston Webb, architect of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the facade of Buckingham Palace, told his peers at the London Society that he foresaw, in the year 2014, “a beautiful sylvan line practically around all London.” He named it the ‘green belt’, an improvement on its original working-title, the ‘green girdle.’

In 1938, the Green Belt (London and Home Counties) Act enabled local authorities to purchase and protect land from development, creating a green belt around London. The Act also allowed landowners to enter into covenants protecting their own land as part of the green belt.

The green belt was subsequently sanctioned in Patrick Abercrombie’s Greater London Plan (1944) and established in the Town and Country Planning Act in 1947, designed to hold in check urban sprawl and protect the countryside from increasing urbanisation.

In 1955, the Ministry of Housing and Local Government requested that, where appropriate, all local authorities should include green belts in their plans.

In 1988, the principles of the green belt were set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 2 (PPG2).

Green Belts establish a buffer zone between urban and rural land, separating town and country and preserving land for forestry, agriculture and wildlife where environmental conditions can be improved and conservation encouraged.

Green belt land now covers around 13 per cent of England, approximately 1.6 million hectares (ref. CPRE: Green Belts in England: Key facts). A map of green belt land can be seen on the Telegraph website. Otherwise, it is a relatively easy find to see whether a property is in the greenbelt. There are a number of green belt land maps out there online, but most accurately, we would suggest the interactive maps that your local authority provides.

The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, also discusses the greenbelt and balance between brownfield sites and greenfield sites, its first reading was in May 2022. The UK Government publishes statistics covering information about the Greenbelt and Local Authorities. The report from September 2022 can be found here Local authority green belt: England 2021-22 - statistical release.

In February 2023 A debate on brownfield development and protecting the Green Belt was scheduled for Westminster Hall, the debate was opened by Wendy Morton MP and the report can be found here. Brownfield development and protecting the Green Belt.

The Theresa Villiers' amendment to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, Amendment text proposed to move the following Clause, with the Member's explanatory statement being "This new clause would require the Secretary of State to review the merits of measures that would financially incentivise brownfield development over greenfield development and to report the findings to Parliament."...“Report on measures to incentivise brownfield development over greenfield development

1. The Secretary of State must, within 60 days of the day on which this Act is passed, establish a review of the merits of measures to financially incentivise brownfield development over greenfield development.
2. The review must, in particular, consider the impact of—
   • (a )introducing a greenfield plot tax to provide dedicated funding streams for brownfield development,
   • (b) setting a uniform zero-rating of VAT for development on brownfield sites,
   • (c) applying standard VAT to development on greenfield sites,
   • (d) applying variable measures to ensure that increases in land values attributable to the granting of planning permission for development are used in support of communities local to those developments, and
   • (e )allowing a high degree of variation in the Infrastructure Levy to enable communities to value the loss of greenfield land depending on local circumstances.
3. The Secretary of State must lay a report on the findings of this review before Parliament no later than one year after this Act comes into force.”

As of August 2023, the House had not considered the amendment and as such there was no decision.

In August 2023 the Countryside Charity published their report on the state of the Green Belt and its future; State of the Green Belt 2023: A vision for the 21st century available for free download.

NB: For more information about the history and evolution of the green belt, see: The green belt and historic buildings.

[edit] Brownfield land

In 1998, in order to limit development on ‘green' and undeveloped land in general, the UK Government set a target for 60% of all new development to be on brownfield land (land which has previously been developed).

Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3) published in 2006, re-stated this commitment making clear that local authorities should 'take stronger action' to bring brownfield land back into use, and in 2010, it was estimated that 76% of new dwellings were built on previously-developed land (ref. Brownfield briefing: Coalition stresses commitment to brownfield).

[edit] Pressure on the green belt

In England, in 1800, just 10% of the population lived in towns and cities, now the figure is 90%. England is the third most densely populated major country in the world, and our population is likely to increase further from 52 million in 2010 to 62 million in 2035 (ref. ONS Population Projections).

In 2011, a report from the Institute of Public Policy Research warned of a housing black hole, suggesting that there would be a a shortfall of 750,000 homes by 2025 (ref. IPPR: England faces 750000 housing gap by 2025).

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published in March 2012 did not include a brownfield target, and in an interview on BBC2’s Newsnight in November 2012, planning minister Nick Boles, suggested that more than 388,000 hectares of open countryside would have to be built on to meet the housing demand. He said that 9% of England had been built on, but this needed to increase to 12%.

“We’re going to protect the green belt – but if people want to have housing for their kids they have got to accept we need to build more on some open land”. Boles only offered explicit protection for green belt land around towns and cities (ref. Telegraph: Government minister warns We must develop a third more land to meet the housing demand). In 2012, the green belt was nearly 32,000 hectares smaller than it was in 2003 (ref. Telegraph).

The National Planning Policy Framework states that the government attaches great importance to the green belt, and describes its purposes as:

• 'to check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas;
• to prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another;
• to assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment;
• to preserve the setting and special character of historic towns; and
• to assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land.'

However, it suggests that 'New Green Belts should only be established in exceptional circumstances, for example when planning for larger scale development such as new settlements or major urban extensions.'

The NPPF explains that local authorities should define green belt boundaries in their local plans and that these should only be changed in exceptional circumstances. It sets out considerations that should influence the positioning of green belt boundaries, and lists certain types of development that may not be inappropriate on green belt land, such as facilities for outdoor sport.

On 6 October 2014, DCLG published additional guidance making clear that once they have been established, green belt boundaries should only be altered in exceptional cases, and that this should be done through the preparation or review of the Local Plan. Housing need does not justify harm to the green belt. For more information see Green belt planning practice guidance.

On 16 October 2014, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: "I am crystal clear that the green belt must be protected from development, so it can continue to offer a strong defence against urban sprawl." (Ref. New rules further strengthen green belt protections 16 October 2014.)

However, in April 2016, Communities Secretary Greg Clark approved outline proposals for a major development, including 1,500 new homes, in the Gloucestershire green belt, deciding that is was justified due to “very special circumstances”. This was because of unmet local housing demand, longstanding strategic planning aims in the area and the economic benefits of the proposal. (Ref. gov.uk 1 April 2016.)

In July 2017, it was reported that 425,000 homes were due to be built on the green belt, an increase of 54% since March 2016. The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) warned that government funds are rewarding the development of green belt land that ministers have promised to protect.

In March 2018, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) reported that the green belt in England belt totalled 1,629,510 hectares (12.5% of the land area of England), down slightly on March 2017, when there were 1,634,580 hectares. (Ref. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/745368/Green_Belt_Statistics_England_2017-18.pdf)

In September 2019, the government announced nearly £2 million for local authorities to crack down on illegal developments on the green belt. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cash-boost-to-crackdown-on-illegal-building-on-nation-s-green-belt

In January 2023 Urbanist Architecture updated its piece on how to build in the Green Belt for 2023 entitle How to get planning permission for building on Green Belt land in the UK (2023 Edition),

In August 2023 BDC Magazine reported on analysis carried out by independent architecture, engineering, planning and surveying consultants Woods Hardwick highlighting the potential of the Green belt for new housing in England’s green belt could facilitate 73.7m new homes.

[edit] Criticism of the green belt

The green belt is not universally supported. Some see it as a barrier to growth and suggest that it is unreasonable to continually demand that more housing is constructed whilst simultaneously protecting the green belt. Others suggest that protection of the green belt means our cities become more and more dense, pushing up property prices.

It is also argued that green belts do not protect the 'countryside', they protect industrial agriculture, where vast, mono-cultural, biologically barren fields are created that discharge rainwater into our rivers which then flood over-dense urban centres. Some suggest that a more dispersed, lower-density development would encourage more widespread and varied green spaces, providing better wildlife habitats and helping attenuate rainwater run-off.

Think tanks such as the Adam Smith Institute have called for the total abolition of the green belt, arguing that the release of a strip of green belt land half a mile wide around London would provide for 800,000 new homes. Their calls are supported by more moderate organisations such as Centre for Cities and the London Society.

Others counter that the ongoing ‘bonfire’ of planning policy creates a charter for development, putting the countryside at risk.

For more information, see The future of the green belt.

In February 2016, housing charity Shelter published a report 'When brownfield isn't enough' in which they suggest, 'Building on some bits of the green belt should be an option, if done right. Smaller, controlled release of appropriate bits of green belt land could deliver substantial numbers of new homes.'

NB: It is important to differentiate between the green belt and 'greenfield' which are often confused. Greenfield developments are those which take place on sites that are not constrained by any existing buildings or infrastructure. Clearly this need not be within the protected green belt.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Allotment.
• Amberfield land.
• Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
• Blue belt.
• Blue space.
• Brownfield land.
• Ecological network.
• Exurb.
• Garden cities.
• Garden suburb.
• Green belt planning practice guidance.
• Green infrastructure.
• Green roof.
• Green space.
• Greenfield land.
• Grey belt.
• Huburb.
• Making the Green Belt work for London.
• Metropolitan open land (MOL).
• National parks.
• National planning policy framework.
• Parleys Canyon Wildlife Bridge.
• Patrick Abercrombie.
• Repurposing the Green Belt in the 21st Century.
• Safeguarding land.
• Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
• Suburb.
• The future of the green belt.
• The green belt and historic buildings.
• Types of land.
• Windfall site.

[edit] External references

• CPRE: Green belts.
• CPRE: Green Belts: A greener future (summary).
• CPRE: Green Belts in England: Key facts.
• Telegraph: Interactive green belt map.
• Telegraph: Government minister warns We must develop a third more land to meet the housing demand
• Natural England: Green belt publications.
• Natual England: Green infrastructure.
• BBC: Open land can solve housing shortage, says minister.
• Written ministerial statement by Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis about permissions for traveller's sites on green belt land. 17/1/2014.
• Vita Architecture: Building on the greenbelt

Comments

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Is the green belt necessary protection to the countryside that prevents urban sprawl, or is it simply protection for industrial agriculture that creates a barrier to growth and intensifies cities resulting in overcrowding, poor biodiversity and local flooding?