Britain’s Green Belt is once again dividing local authorities, developers and interest groups over the application and interpretation of planning policies for the control of development land on the edge of towns and cities.
That is the view of Colliers International planning specialist Marcus Plaw, who has been monitoring the Government’s intentions regarding the effectiveness – or otherwise – of the Green Belt and development sites within them.
He said: “There have been reports that a new Economic Development Bill might relax some rules on building on the Green Belt, a stance that is generally supported by the Policy Exchange think tank, which has called for thousands of homes to be built on Green Belt land in a bid to stimulate the economy.”
But politicians at last week’s Conservative Party conference were keen to reassure voters they were determined to protect the Green Belt.
“Questions have arisen over the very mixed messages coming from various Government officials as to whether development within green belt areas will be relaxed or not.”
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles declared that ministers will not allow Green Belt protection to be watered down in a bid boost economic development.
In the five months following publication of the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which reduced from more than a thousand pages of guidance to around fifty – some 85,000 building schemes have been given the green light – around 10,000 more than in the five months before the change.
The Bristol-based planning specialist continued: “It is important for owners and developers to understand the position and what is and is not permitted in the Green Belt. There are development opportunities on existing development sites alongside redundant and derelict sites within the Green Belt that can bring about improvements to the visual appearance and wider amenity of an area.
“The NPPF presents a more helpful and favourable policy for bringing forward development on smaller brownfield sites which opens up new economic opportunities.”
He said sensitive design and opportunities to enhance the sustainability of the site will also need to be considered and applied.
The NPPF allows for the replacement of buildings in the same use which are not materially larger, limited infilling in villages and partial or complete redevelopment of previously developed brownfield sites – so long as the new use would not have a greater impact on the openness of the Green Belt than the previous use. But again, many of these decisions will remain within the planning application process.
He concluded: “There are some areas in the Green Belt which are so sensitive that there is no chance of development occurring within them.
“But there are many brownfield development sites within the Green Belt which are presently nothing more than blots on the landscape. The potential of these should be explored and considered carefully because as it stands there is a policy framework in place that opens up opportunities for stimulating a stalled development industry and such opportunities should be grasped. Such sites should not be taken immediately as being at odds with Green Belt protection. ”
