The purpose of greenbelt policy
'Landsat image of London' - NASA / public domain
According to the UK government modern greenbelt policy continues to serve five primary purposes (CPRE and Natural England 2010): (click to reveal)
- to check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas
- to prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another
- to assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment
- to preserve the setting and special character of historic towns
- to assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land.
Greenbelt policy is not about preventing development from taking place, but is about guiding where development should and should not take place. However, it is also about more than that. It is the zone where town meets country or urban competes with rural . It is about the meeting place where the environmental agenda meets the development agenda (Gallent 2006). Because the urban-rural fringe is subject to competing land-use pressures from town and country there is a clear role for planning to provide the strategic input.
In the National Planning Policy Framework (2012) the government identifies the fundamental aims of greenbelt policy as being about preventing urban sprawl, preserving the openness of the countryside and maintaining a related sense of permanence. The construction of new buildings is considered ‘inappropriate’ for the greenbelt, although there are exceptions. No new greenbelt designations are to be encouraged and only in exceptional circumstances would they be approved (Smith 2014).
The National Planning Policy Framework (2012) adds a further dimension of ‘sustainability’ to all planning policy and this should lead to a re-evaluation of the ecological justification for the open greenspaces the greenbelt policy preserves (Amati and Taylor 2010). How valuable is industrial agriculture to conserving the biodiversity and character of the countryside?
The Metropolitan Green Belt among the green belts of England - Wikimedia / CC BY-SA 3.0
