Green Belt is suffering due to housing targets

ENGLAND’S Green Belt has suffered its biggest reduction in eight years with more than 5,000 hectares (12,300 acres) lost as councils removed protections on land to meet “unrealistic” Government housing targets.

New statistics show the nation’s Green Belt has shrunk by more than 10,000 hectares in 10 years, as campaigners warn that land which is supposed to be off limits is increasingly being targeted for developments.

The decision by councils to remove protections on large swathes of land has been blamed on a “perfect storm” of hard-to-hit housing targets and developers wanting to build on lucrative “shovel ready” Green Belt.

The most significant reduction in the area occurred last year with the loss of 5,070 hectares between March 2017 and March 2018, the largest decrease since the Green Belt started shrinking in 2010. That represents a loss of 0.3 per cent.

Despite the relatively small percentage drop, campaigners fear the latest reduction could be the thin end of the wedge as councils struggle to find space to meet housing need.

The aim of Green Belt policy is to prevent so-called “urban sprawl” by keeping green fields open to stop towns and cities from merging together and to safeguard the countryside.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) called on the Government to stop asking councils to deliver “unrealistic targets” and to stress the Green Belt should only be used for development as a last resort.

Rebecca Pullinger, planning campaigner at the CPRE, said: “For too long house-builders have been able to use land as a tool to manipulate and monopolise the market only to serve their own interests.

“The Government must stop heaping pressure on councils to deliver unrealistic targets that result in the Green Belt being chipped away.”