"Shredding the green belt is a recipe for disaster" Comments (Debate)

Mon 29 May 2023, 22:24 (last edited on Mon 29 May 2023, 22:31)

Ah the Green Belt.  Probably the most misunderstood and most misrepresented planning concept in the world.  I have yet to hear a politician - of any colour - talk about it with any real understanding and of course housebuilders want to build (cheaply) on previously undeveloped land rather than 'brown field' sites so constantly denigrate it and 'blame' it for their own failings (which are many).

One of the purposes of the Green Belt is indeed to prevent urban sprawl (think Betjeman's Metroland - or just drive through south London to Gatwick!).  But it is not a landscape designation - that's what AONBs and lesser 'Areas of Special Landscape Value' are for.  What Jenkins omits to mention is that when created around our cities, Green Belts went hand in hand with the creation of new settlements - and in theory, the taxation of the resulting increase in land values to finance 'public goods'.  Not sure what happened to that bit of it!

But they have been largely successful in securing areas of 'open countryside' i.e. land mostly free from development around the towns and cities they serve.  Even in the crowded south east it is still possible to have a sense of going from one place to another.  Their existence is also intended to 'assist in urban regeneration' by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land (but cf the housebuilders, above).  And they are supposed to be permanent - constantly releasing Green Belt land for development on the periphery of urban areas undermines their primary purpose (but cf the politicians, above!).

That's not to say there isn't a need for new housing - though as Jenkins (sort of) points out, there are thousands of empty properties which ought to be brought back into use - or just into use.  Nor is it to say that the Green Belt's existence is problem free - the availability and cost of housing within such restricted areas, as with say in National Parks or AONBs, is an obvious example.  But if we want to maintain the distinction between town and country - and I disagree with Moore, it still exists - the concept of Green Belt imho is still a pretty good one and could be improved upon in practice.

You may note also I give it capital letters - as you'll find it in all planning guidance etc.  But I'm not even going to attempt to address the wider housing issue on here at this time of night!