Green Belt
Green Belt is indispensable solution to climate, nature and food security
Thursday 24 August 2023
The Green Belt is being overlooked as a pivotal solution to climate change, the decline of nature and food security vulnerabilities, a new report from CPRE, the countryside charity, shows. The report argues that the Green Belt, which protects 12.5 per cent of England’s land area from development, should become greener, wetter and more biodiverse. […] Read more >
Essex feels the pressure of growing Green Belt development plans
Friday 26 August 2022
The London Green Belt is under siege from development proposals – and Essex is one of the worst-affected counties. Research by the London Green Belt Council demonstrates the extent of the threat to the countryside in and around the capital, with local authorities planning to allow building on more than 48,000 acres of Green Belt […] Read more >
Green Belt: the countryside next door to 30 million people needs investment to level up access to nature, says CPRE
Friday 27 May 2022
The Green Belt is missing out on government funding for the restoration of nature and cultural heritage despite it being the countryside next door to 30 million people – or more than half of England’s population. Valued spaces such as the parkland setting of Bentley Priory – the headquarters of the RAF during the Battle […] Read more >
Uttlesford council blocks plan for solar farm
Tuesday 19 April 2022
Uttlesford District Council has refused permission for a solar farm that would have crossed into another local authority area. The scheme, proposed by Endurance Energy, would have covered 115 hectares near Bishop’s Stortford in a development called Wickham Hall Solar Farm straddling Uttlesford and East Herts district councils. However, on Wednesday, April 13, Uttlesford District […] Read more >
Campaigns… and how (hopefully) to win them
Monday 21 June 2021
It is all too familiar a scenario: a local authority proposing to build thousands of houses in areas wholly unsuitable for such levels of development. When one council in north Kent targeted sites in the Green Belt, an impressive operation to challenge the potential environmental destruction was launched. Here, Alex Hills, chairman of CPRE Kent’s […] Read more >
Pressure on the Green Belt has quadrupled since 2013
Thursday 25 February 2021
Despite a surge in demand for time in green space, the Green Belt – the countryside next door for 30 million people – is facing extreme and sustained pressure, according to new research from CPRE, the countryside charity. The State of Greenbelt 2021 report reveals there are 0.25 million (257,944) homes proposed to be built […] Read more >
The Green Belt: its value is obvious but it needs protecting more than ever, says new report
Wednesday 20 November 2019
Lying next to London, Essex is of course well served by the capital’s Green Belt. A report by a cross-party Parliamentary group shows that London’s Metropolitan Green Belt not only protects against urban sprawl but also provides vital countryside on our doorstep for health and well-being. Benefits include: • 26, 267 hectares of Sites of […] Read more >
New homes in Green Belt approved thanks to ‘very special circumstances’
Wednesday 7 August 2019
“Very special circumstances” were cited as a planning inspector granted permission on appeal for almost 40 homes in the Green Belt. Epping Forest District Council had in June last year refused the plans at Stoneshot Farm near Nazeing, but inspector Helen Hockenhull has now overturned that decision. She granted consent to Haycross and Hogg Construction […] Read more >
Elections prove our countryside matters to people, says Green Belt council
Monday 17 June 2019
The extraordinary change in the composition of Uttlesford District Council resulting from May’s local elections was charted here, but there were of course eye-catching returns from much of the South East after the polls had closed. Such was the widespread shift in allegiance that the London Green Belt Council was moved to comment: “One of […] Read more >
Green Belt under the cosh…and it’s particularly bad news for one Essex district
Monday 4 February 2019
The onslaught of development on the Metropolitan Green Belt is increasing – and an Essex district faces taking the biggest hit of all. Data collected by eight CPRE branches in and around the capital show that 56 of 66 local authorities are targeting Green Belt land for residential development. And the local authority planning the […] Read more >