The Green Belt

The Green Belt. Or the Nation’s landbank, as I see it.

During the 1930s, the Green Belt was designed to prevent urban sprawl, protect the countryside, and provide opportunities for the public to enjoy trips to the country. The 1947 Town and Country Planning Act formalised the policy. Its aim was to create some delineation between areas of growth, so urban areas did not merge into one another, preserving the distinct identity of cities and towns.

Over time, the Green Belt expanded to encompass more than 13% of England’s land area, much of it in the area of the greatest housing need (inside and around London) where nearly one in four acres is Green Belt.

The Green Belt has become a Holy Cow. Despite it being incredibly outdated, and much of the land being anything but green and pleasant, politicians of all parties including Sadiq Khan in London have for decades banned all discussion of it.

I remember looking at a particularly bleak piece of green land in a London borough. It was used for walking dogs (with the inevitable consequences) but it didn’t have any real value to the community. Had the council been prepared to consider building social housing around its border, the green area could have been brought to life. Overlooked, enjoyed, bringing in leisure activities, water features, cafes, play areas and seating the community could have really enjoyed living there. If you want to see what can be done with green areas within and around cities, visit Burgess Park.

Clearly, much of the Green Belt should be Grade I listed and protected forever. Ancient woodland, areas of outstanding natural beauty, historically important sites, accessible walking, camping and wild, isolated areas. Anything that is lovely, actively enjoyed, with important biodiversity, environmental or recreational value must continue to be out of bounds for housing and other development for all time. And some should be designated as Grade 2 Green Belt which should be protected but reviewed every decade or so. But the areas that are degraded or under-utilised should be redesignated as Social Housing Landbank, so they can be considered for development by the Government, Councils or housing associations.

I like to think of the Green belt as the People’s Landbank. Much of this land belongs to us all, and it should be used to help the two or three million people who need a home, especially a social rented home. Even privately owned Green Belt could be tackled with an appropriate deal.

The next Government will be short of cash so great big grants for social housing are out of the question. We need to look at what land we have and designate the Green Belt as land for social housing. We need to look for creative proposals for the Social Housing Landbank that provides the maximum number of sustainable social homes within mixed and balanced communities with a large amount of public benefit and return. Many people want their experience of the great outdoors to be curated, sociable and safe. Infrastructure like transport, schools and health care are also a key component. Community Involvement in deciding which areas can be used for new homes is vital, as well as engaging people in helping to design new communities.

It’s time for the public to insist on more homes. It is time for our politicians to educate themselves and to communicate with courage. With local councils and local people engaged, it is time for the development industry to be creative to produce new settlements for our people. The Green belt as it sits today protects the already well off, enforces long commutes and creates horrible high rise concentrations that we will live to regret by restricting development to brownfield sites.