Environment adviser calls for 'greener green belts'
Natural England has publicly acknowledged for the first time that green belt policy should be reviewed as part of the options being considered to meet the Government's housing targets.
But the Government's statutory adviser on the natural environment has argued that any review of the green belt should be carried out as part of a fresh approach to "greening" new development which also requires better management - and improvement - of existing green belt.
According to a scoping paper discussed by the organisation's Board much green belt is currently neglected or of poor environmental quality.
The paper made it clear that some green belt land will not be suitable for development because of environmental designations, flood plain issues or its role in providing strategic gaps and maintaining the separation of settlements.
"These areas could be the basis of a new, less extensive, green belt. Its form would probably be one of green gaps, green wedges and buffers rather than continuous belts. All could be permanently retained and actively managed," suggested the paper.
It proposed that other green belt land could be covered by polices with a general presumption against development. "But that would not rule out allocating sites for development in the plan period where plans at both regional and local levels determine that they are the most sustainable option."
The Board has proposed a number of principles to underpin any review of green belt policies. These include the need to "green" England's towns and cities and the land in and around existing green belt areas.
Sir Martin Doughty, Natural England's Chair, said: "The time has come for a greener green belt. We need a 21st century solution to England's housing needs which puts in place a network of green wedges, gaps and corridors, linking the natural environment and people."
Read Natural England's press release
Roger Milne
11 October 2007
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