Green Belt: a critical environment policy?

Green Belt is a critical environment policy.

Green Belt policy seeks to curb urban sprawl which has devastating environmental impacts. On 12 September 2024 we were joined by experts, at our lunchtime webinar (recording here), to talk about why this is.

• We talked about how the country lacks a housing strategy – and instead planning and housing have been conflated which mitigates against solving the housing crisis.
• It also means the critical environmental management issues which underpin Green Belt policy are being dismantled, notably the erosion of regional parks and natural environments, and the links between sprawl and car-dependency (and concomitant loss of bus patronage and ultimately bus services).

Speakers pointed to much needed solutions including:

• introducing new designations to protect and enhance nature, but also safeguard land for water management, tree canopy cover, nature habitat, recreation and sport;
• new policy to dictate that Local Plans should be underpinned by sustainable transport policy which seeks to move us away from car-dependent, low-density, high-carbon urban sprawl;
• tackling the housing crisis with housing strategy – not the same as planning policy, and not the same as promoting housebuilding (and by the way, the planning system is delivering huge numbers of planning permissions, and sites for housing, these are simply not being built. In London alone there are permissions for 350,000 new homes which have not been built: land availability is not a problem – the ‘planning system’ is not a problem).

The environmentally positive approach would be too look much harder at what previously developed land could be used for regenerating urban areas by creating homes near services and how we can renovate and repurpose existing buildings, an approach which has a much lower carbon footprint than building from scratch.

The presentations are here. The event video will be uploaded here ASAP.

• Green Belt – a Critical Environment Policy – Urban Sprawl, Green Belt, Compact Cities
• London Green Belt Council and the 2024 proposed planning reforms
• Colne Valley Park and the benefits of Green Belt Sept 2024

We would massively appreciate your support for CPRE London’s work to create a positive vision for London’s Green Belt by creating a ring of trees linking up a mosaic of habitat and nature friendly farming sites around the capital.  Please help by giving here