Green belt betrayal

Up to 460,000 homes could be built on land that Tories said would only be lost for ‘exceptional’ reasons

THE green belt is being ‘gobbled up at an alarming rate’ to build thousands of homes, a report warns today.

Analysis shows councils in England have removed protections from land, opening the way for the development of hundreds of thousands of homes.

Green belt land can only be built on in exceptional circumstances.

And earlier this year Theresa May reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to protecting the ‘green lungs’ of our cities, saying ‘the answer to our housing crisis does not lie in tearing up the green belt’.

But a report by the Campaign to Protect Rural England today shows plans for almost 460,000 homes have been pencilled in for green belt land by councils since 2013.

Green belt areas can be built on if councils grant planning permission directly or remove the land’s official status. Both methods have been used to erode the green belt, the report said. Between 2011/12 and 2016/17 nearly 4,900 hectares of green belt have lost their protected status in local plans – the equivalent of a city the size of Middlesbrough, housing ministry figures show.

The report said that in the past four years, 11,000 hectares of green belt land – a city the size of Bristol – have also been built on for industrial, commercial or residential purposes. Of this 7,200 were undeveloped ‘greenfield’ land.

Last year alone the equivalent of nearly 400 football pitches of untouched greenfield were built on for flats or houses in England.

The pace of development in the green belt is accelerating. Only 70 houses or flats were built in the green belt in 2009/10 compared with 8,143 in 2017/18. Of these, 3,300 were on greenfield sites,

Today’s CPRE report, The State of the Green Belt, said: ‘Our key findings show that the Government has broken its promise to secure the green belt.’

Virgin greenfield land is preferred by developers as it is easy to build on. But the CPRE said there was no need to pave over the countryside when there are sufficient urban ‘brownfield’ sites in towns and cities that could provide some 720,000 homes.

Brownfield sites include wasteland, derelict or disused sites such as old warehouses or factories.

The CPRE said that over the past six years ‘too many local authorities and developers have been taking a lax view of what exceptional means... allocating green belt sites for development as an easy option rather than as a last resort.’

The CPRE also calculated that of the homes built on the green belt in the past nine years, 72 per cent were not ‘affordable’ under the Government’s definitions, so they do little to reduce the housing shortage.

Critics fear it may become even easier to build on green belt land.

Last year the Government unveiled its Housing White Paper containing ambitious plans to build a million new homes by 2020. It said the green belt would not lose any of its protections. But critics noted ‘exceptional circumstances’ could include housing requirements – in effect watering down safeguards.

Tom Fyans, of the CPRE, said: ‘We are being sold a lie by many developers. As they sell off and gobble up the green belt to build low-density, unaffordable housing, young families go on struggling to afford a place to live.

‘The affordable housing crisis must be addressed with increasing urgency, while acknowledging that far from providing the solution, building on the green belt only serves to entrench the issue. The Government is failing in its commitment to protect the green belt – it is being eroded at an alarming rate.’

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: ‘We are clear building the homes our country needs does not mean tearing up our countryside.

‘Last year the number of new homes built was the highest in a decade, and only 0.02 per cent of the green belt was developed for residential use.

‘We are adding more certainty to the planning system and our new rulebook strengthens national protections for the green belt.’

‘We are being sold a lie’

YES, with our fast-growing population – stoked, among other factors, by the great unmentionable of mass immigration – the Mail understands we need more housing.

But those who value Britain’s quality of life will be dismayed by today’s figures, showing that at least 460,000 new homes could be built on precious green belt land.

Since 72 per cent of houses built on green belt land in the last nine years fail to meet the Government’s definition of ‘affordable’, future builds won’t even do much to ease the plight of young families.

While urban brownfield sites are available – and the Campaign to Protect Rural England identifies enough to build 720,000 homes – concreting over the green belt is an offence against our children and grandchildren. TWO days ago, the Mail reported a sharp rise in the number of sepsis deaths recorded by hospitals. Today, we bring news of a revolutionary approach to detecting the illness, which has led to a seven-fold increase in the number of patients receiving life-saving drugs. This paper is proud of our two-year campaign to heighten awareness of this insidious killer. Thanks to the pioneering work of Cambridge University Hospitals, hope is now in sight. LESS than seven years after being jailed for life, a rapist policeman who may have attacked up to 30 women is freed by the Parole Board – the same body that tried to free black cab rapist John Worboys before the decision was overturned amid a public outcry. Commenting on Stephen Mitchell’s release, a Parole Board spokesman says: ‘Public safety is our number one priority.’ Try telling that to victims and women at risk.