Major development threats to Green Belt
Green Belt across the country is being threatened by development proposals for airport expansion, housing developments, new sports venues, roads, park-and-ride facilities, business parks and more. These pages, and the accompanying map, show current examples of particularly significant development threats to Green Belts across England.Avon Green Belt
Plans to extend Bath University could develop nearly 12 hectares of Green Belt. The university wants to build housing for up to 2,000 students as well as offices, teaching rooms and research facilities on Green Belt. The plans, mentioned in the draft Bath and North East Somerset Local Plan is going through a public inquiry. An inspector's report is expected later in the year.
Local contact: Henrietta Sherwin, Executive Committee Trustee, CPRE Avonside 01225 427660
Cambridge Green Belt
The Cambridgeshire Structure Plan Review Panel Report recommended removal of land from the Cambridge Green Belt. Responding to public concern about the damaging impact on cherished views of the city from Grantchester Meadows, Cambridge City Council decided against releasing the land. The Government Office for the East of England (GOEE) has now revived fears about the long-term protection of this land in its response to consultation on the draft East of England Plan. It has been estimated that 1,800 dwellings could be built on the land.
Local contact: Alison Sargent, Press Officer, CPRE Cambridgeshire 07776 255193
London Green Belt
Around 6,000 houses could be built on the Green Belt west of Stevenage, between Hitchin and Stevenage. An application has been submitted and a public inquiry held. We await a decision from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, probably in late autumn.
Local contact: Kevin Fitzgerald, Honorary Director, CPRE Hertfordshire 07949 338044
240 hectares of Green Belt could be lost if Gatwick gets approval for a second runway after 2019, as set out in the Aviation White Paper.
Local contact: Julie Stainton, national campaigner, CPRE National Office, 020 7981 2828
Green Belt boundaries are being reviewed in three of the Government's four 'growth areas' in the greater South East: Upper Lee Valley, around Bishop's Stortford, north and west of Stevenage and north of Harlow (in the London-Peterborough growth area); near Thurrock, south Essex (in the Thames Gateway growth area); around Luton, Dunstable, Houghton Regis, Leighton Buzzard and Linslade (in the Milton Keynes and South Midlands growth area).
Local contact: Julie Stainton, national campaigner, CPRE National Office, 020 7981 2828
North West Green Belt
Another 'park and ride' site may tarmac over the Green Belt outside Chester. The city council is proposing that a 1,200-car parking space development goes ahead, having already approved four earlier ones on Green Belt.
A 135,000-square foot warehouse with 641 parking spaces may eliminate 4 hectares of Chester Green Belt. A public inquiry into the planning application was held in January and a decision is awaited.
Local contact: Ann Jones, CPRE Cheshire 01244 390314
May 2005
Nottingham and Derby Green Belt
A sports venue is to be built, eating up nearly 10 hectares of Green Belt. The venue includes a stadium with two covered stands, 11 pitches including an all-weather surface, changing rooms and social facilities. This application by the Arnold Town Football Club was approved by the Secretary of State in March 2005.
Local contact: Stuart Byfield, Branch Chairman, CPRE Nottinghamshire 0115 937 4753
Oxford Green Belt
Thousands of homes could be built in the Oxford Green Belt in the coming decades. Despite opposition from Oxfordshire County Council, the option of major extensions of Oxford into the Green Belt is proposed in the Draft South East Plan published by the South East Regional Assembly earlier this year.
Local contact: Brian Wood, Chairman, CPRE Oxfordshire 01869 337904
Poole Green Belt
In the Government Office South West's draft Vision for South East Dorset 2026, it suggests an option of building an 'urban extension' into the Green Belt with thousands of homes. The document will help shape the proposals in the draft regional spatial strategy, expected in September.
Local contact: Terry Stewart, Vice-Chairman, CPRE Dorset 01202 701637
South and West Yorkshire Green Belt
Bradford's Unitary Development Plan, which has just been finalised, removed different parcels of land in Bradford North, Bradford South, Keighley and Shipley from Green Belt designation, clearing the way for development including housing.
Local contact: John Denham, Chairman, CPRE West Yorkshire 01484 425708
10 hectares of Green Belt on the edge of Rotherham could be lost to a leisure development, which includes a theatre complex, TV studio, conference/convention centre, two hotels, cinema, bowling alley, sports centre, golf driving range, ancillary retail, food & drink, parking, rail station, bus termini. A planning application has been submitted.
Local contact: Stephanie Woodhouse, Information Officer, CPRE Peak District & South Yorkshire 0114 266 5822
Tyne and Wear Green Belt
The expansion of Newcastle Falcons Training Ground at Kingston Park has taken 30 ha out of the strategic Green Belt around Tyne and Wear, allowed by the Secretary of State.
Local contact: Dr Nic Best, Regional Policy Officer, CPRE North East 01670 517915
West Midlands Green Belt
Plans to either widen the M6 north of the West Midlands conurbation or build a new M6 Expressway toll road would cut through the Green Belt. About half of the proposed M6 expressway between Wolverhampton and Stafford runs through Green Belt; a decision on this new tolled motorway is expected shortly.
Local contact: Gerald Kells, Regional Policy Officer, CPRE West Midlands 01922 636601
290 hectares of Green Belt are at risk from Birmingham Airport's proposed second runway, as set out in the Aviation White Paper.
Local contact: Gerald Kells, Regional Policy Officer, CPRE West Midlands 01922 636601
York Green Belt
117 hectares of Green Belt around York will be lost if York University gets approval for its plans. It has applied to extend its campus into the Green Belt, build roads, provide parking spaces for 1,500 cars and create a large business park. York City Council is in favour of the application but it has been referred to the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber, which has yet to decide whether to intervene.
Local contact: Dr. Guy Woolley, District Chairman, CPRE York & Selby District 01937 557637
