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66-484: The West Midlands Green Belt is a statutory green belt environmental and planning policy that regulates the rural space within the West Midlands region of England . It is contained within the counties of the West Midlands , Shropshire , Staffordshire , Warwickshire and Worcestershire . Essentially, the function of the green belt is to more rigorously manage development around the cities, towns and villages in

132-636: A 'green web' to replace the green belt in some locations. The ambition is to create a "multifunctional green infrastructure landscape" in which new-build and publicly accessible natural space sat side by side. Research undertaken by the London School of Economics in 2016 suggests that by 1979, the area covered by green belt in England comprised 721,500 hectares, and by 1993, this had been extended to 1,652,310 hectares. Several academics, policy groups and town planning organisations in recent years have criticised

198-601: A belt of some 7–10 miles wide). The motives for a green belt around London were not just environmental, Frank Pick the CEO of the London Passenger Transport Board made an economic case; he believed that London Underground had a finite potential capacity which would be breached by the growth of the city's population and overall physical size. Pick presented this case to the Barlow Commission (Royal Commission on

264-463: A more flexible policy which would allow the introduction of green wedge and strategic gap policies rather than green belts, and so permit the expansion of some urban areas. In October 2007, Sir Martin Doughty , then Chair of Natural England , argued for a review of green belts, saying: "The time has come for a greener green belt. We need a 21st century solution to England's housing needs which puts in place

330-428: A need to be met in locations with appropriate environmental capacity". The Economist has criticised green belt policy, saying that unless more houses are built through reforming planning laws and releasing green belt land, then housing space will need to be rationed out. In March 2014, it was noted that if general inflation had risen as fast as housing prices had since 1971, a chicken would cost £51; and that Britain

396-576: A network of green wedges, gaps and corridors, linking the natural environment and people.". Similarly, the London Society published a comprehensive history of the green belt (as it emerged in the first part of the twentieth century) in 2014. Authored by the influential English urbanist Jonathan Manns, this called for a "move away from the simplistic and naïve idea that countryside is a sacrosanct patchwork of medieval hedgerows and towards an empirically informed position which once more recognises housing as

462-533: A price-support philosophy to one of environmental stewardship, a policy shift begun in England. Campaigns against noise and light pollution have been pursued over recent years, and CPRE is now focusing on "tranquillity" as a key aspect of the countryside which CPRE wants to see protected in England's planning policies. CPRE joined the 10:10 project in 2010 in a bid to reduce their carbon footprint. One year later they announced that they had reduced their carbon emissions (according to 10:10's criteria) by 12%. In

528-550: A railway station actually travelled to London by train on a regular basis with the vast majority (72%) travelling by private vehicle to jobs in their hometown and to other places not within London. Thus the proposal put forward in the Adam Smith report could result in 3.96 to 7.45 million additional car journeys per week on already congested roads around London. CPRE say it is a myth to connect green belts to rising house prices, since there

594-476: A reserve supply of public open spaces and of recreational areas and to establish a green belt or girdle of open space". It was again included in an advisory Greater London Plan prepared by Patrick Abercrombie in 1944 (which sought a belt of up to six miles wide). However, it was some 14 years before the elected local authorities responsible for the area around London had all defined the area on scaled maps with some precision (encouraged by Duncan Sandys to designate

660-509: A series of intrusion maps which are in development which highlighted areas disturbed by the presence of noise and visual intrusion from major infrastructure. The resulting maps show the extent of intrusion in the early 1960s, early 1990s and 2007. They cannot be reproduced. In July 2024, Mary-Ann Ochota was elected President of the CPRE. She was previously interviewed by CPRE and described time spent in green space as "a wonder drug". In 2013 there

726-455: Is "building less homes today than at any point since the 1920s". According to the Institute of Economic Affairs , there is "overwhelming empirical evidence that that planning restrictions have a substantial impact on housing costs" and are the main reason why housing is two and a half times more expensive in 2011 than it was in 1975. The free market Adam Smith Institute is a particular critic of

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792-524: Is an important element of sustainable development and makes an essential contribution to Scotland's economy and cultural heritage.” The term emerged from continental Europe where broad boulevards were increasingly used to separate new development from the centre of historic towns; most notably the Ringstraße in Vienna . Various proposals were put forward from 1890 onwards but the first to garner widespread support

858-579: Is clear that the purpose of green belt designation in the development plan as part of the settlement strategy for an area is to: However, the Scottish Government recognises that certain types of development might actually promote and support appropriate rural diversification: The Government requires that locally established green belt plans: maintain the identity of a city by the clearly establishing physical boundaries and preventing coalescence; provide countryside for recreation of denizens; and maintain

924-486: Is fighting for the protection of green belts . There is emphasis on reducing litter in rural areas across England via local action and events and lobbying government. Under the Climate emergency heading, support is given to campaigns against 'surface' or opencast mining . CPRE has challenged the government to modify HS2 rail plans to remove all planned out-of-town interchange ("parkway") stations as well as challenging

990-661: Is no clear difference in house prices between cities with green belts and cities without them, and both land and house prices are inflated by other factors such as investment. Lewis Abbott has identified green belt barriers to urban expansion as one of several major protectionist political-economic barriers to house building with negative effects on the supply, cost/prices, and quality of new homes. (The others include new housing development taxes and quasi-taxes; political discrimination against particular classes of new housing supplier, household consumer, and housing product; and controls on housing technical-product development – in particular,

1056-556: Is really 'under concrete' (including roads, railways, car parks, etc.). It is nevertheless the case that in 2017/18, 8.9 km of previously undeveloped Green Belt land changed to a developed use, of which 2.9 km turned into residential use. Figures from the British YIMBY movement have criticised the CPRE, accusing it of denying the British housing crisis and significantly underestimating housing need in high-cost areas to justify

1122-770: Is set out in Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) 21, published by the Scottish Government in February 2010. On 29 November, the Government published "Green Belt Policy in Scotland 10/85" As of 2010 Scotland had 10 green belt areas: Aberdeen , Ayr , Clackmannanshire , East Lothian , Edinburgh , Falkirk and Grangemouth , Greater Glasgow , Midlothian and Stirling . There are also plans for green belts around Dunfermline , Perth and St Andrews . The Scottish Government

1188-522: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) who are the present central government department maintaining responsibility for green belts, a countryside interest group, Campaign to Protect Rural England ( CPRE ) continue to group these into 14 green belt areas, the North West green belt encompassing three urban cores. The area designated as green belt land in England as at 12 October 2023

1254-795: The National Trust , the Women's Institute and the Commons Preservation Society . Molly Trevelyan was the WI representative and she served on the founding committee. The early years In CPRE's first years, it campaigned for rural planning, for the creation of national parks in especially beautiful areas and used for the recreation of those living in cities, for the reservation of farming belt zones around towns and cities so as to keep fresh produce close to urban markets and against urban sprawl and uncontrolled ribbon development . It also began arguing

1320-718: The 21st century. However, while in general these concepts are quite distinct in the UK from the green belt as a statutory development plan designation, an exception occurs in London where land may be designated as " Metropolitan Open Land " (MOL). Areas of MOL are subject to the same planning restrictions as the green belt while lying within the urban area. In 2005, the European Commission 's COST Action C11 ( COST European Cooperation in Science and Technology) undertook in-depth city case studies into cities across 15 European countries. Sheffield

1386-656: The Bankside Star by contributing significantly to the Together at Christmas gift collection campaign for the homeless, vulnerably housed and elderly people. CPRE has influenced public policy relating to town and country planning in England , most notably in the formation of the National Parks and AONBs in 1949, and of green belts in 1955. It claims some credit for the slow shift of agricultural policies across Europe away from

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1452-460: The CPRE claims to be one of the longest running environmental groups in the UK. CPRE campaigns for a "sustainable future" for the English countryside. They state it is "a vital but undervalued environmental, economic and social asset to the nation." They aim to "highlight threats and promote positive solutions." They campaign using their own research to lobby the public and all levels of government. CPRE

1518-654: The CPRE. In April 2006 CPRE Peak District & South Yorkshire sought to clarify its identity across its vast territory by operating under two distinct identities. Due to its long association with Peak District National Park, the organisation operates as the Friends of the Peak District in the Peak District National Park, High Peak Borough and six parishes of North East Derbyshire (Eckington, Unstone, Holmesfield, Killamarsh, Dronfield, Barlow). In 2007 CPRE published

1584-510: The Chancellor of the Exchequer to scrap tax incentives favouring blanket conifer plantations in upland areas. 1990 onwards In 1990 the Government's first ever Environment White Paper accepted the case for hedgerow protection, 20 years after CPRE's campaign was first launched, and in 1997 laws to protect hedgerows finally came into force. In 1995 CPRE published “tranquillity” maps which show

1650-641: The Geographical Distribution of the Industrial Population) , arguing that if London's radius grew beyond 12–15 miles, the capital's commuter infrastructure could not cope in financial or capacity terms, to the detriment of city's overall economy. He instead made the case for a number of economically self-sufficient new towns beyond a new green belt. New provisions for compensation in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947 allowed local authorities around

1716-559: The Town and Country Planning Act 1947 and the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. There were also CPRE campaigns for subsidies for rural housing and for adequate publicity for planning enquiries. This period also saw the 'Best Kept Village' and ' Keep Britain Tidy ' initiatives. When England's first motorway the M1 was proposed in 1957, CPRE successfully campaigned for it to avoid

1782-676: The UK, there are competing demands on the use of land for biodiversity, food production, housing, recreation, health and well-being. Movements of populations and climate change exacerbate the pressure of these demands. It is thus to be expected that tensions will arise between and among food producers, residents, planners, builders, industrialists, environmentalists and others. Points of view vary significantly and CPRE thus has its critics. Some critics characterise CPRE as being: CPRE has changed its positions on issues over time. For example, in December 2008 George Monbiot of The Guardian interviewed

1848-464: The UK. The CPRE promotes a large number of rural attractions such as gardens, houses and museums, by means of its annual Members' Guide. The 2012 Members Guide was supported by the National Farmers Union . In 2015, CPRE published the 'Warm and Green' report, which sheds new light on the scale of the energy problems and the solutions needed to tackle them. During the same year CPRE earned

1914-791: The West Midlands green belt extending across several counties, responsibility and co-ordination lies with the many local district councils whose land covers the green belt, as these are the local planning government bodies. Dickins Heath , Hampton-in-Arden , Meriden Green belt (United Kingdom) The Metropolitan Green Belt around London was first proposed by the Greater London Regional Planning Committee in 1935. The Town and Country Planning Act 1947 then allowed local authorities to include green belt proposals in their development plans. In 1955, Minister of Housing Duncan Sandys encouraged local authorities around

1980-518: The YIMBY movement, this is a distraction from the necessary infill development in and around major urban centres, which is claimed to offer significantly more potential to meet housing need inside urban areas. In October 2020 however, a CPRE report revealed that there is enough brownfield land for 1.3 million new homes and over half a million already have planning permission. In 2024, CPRE Hertfordshire were criticised by one Hertfordshire local authority about

2046-735: The area of Green Belt land in New Forest DC and Test Valley BC (47,300 hectares) which were designated as New Forest National Park in 2005. In July 2024 the Labour government announced plans to prioritise building on "poor quality and ugly areas" within England's green belt, including brownfield sites, which it termed the "grey belt". Wales has one green belt, between the cities of Cardiff and Newport . Northern Ireland has 30 green belt areas, accounting for approximately 226,600 hectares, about 16 percent of its total area. Green belt policy in Scotland

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2112-402: The blocking of innovative low-cost house building using new materials and production technologies). Abbott argues that the greenbelts actually defeat their own stated objective of saving the countryside and open spaces. By preventing existing towns and cities from extending normally and organically, they result in more land-extensive housing developments further out – i.e., the establishment beyond

2178-450: The case for protecting areas of England's most beautiful countryside, and for setting up green belts to preserve the character of towns and to give town dwellers easy access to the countryside. In the war years, CPRE was identified as a stakeholder that government ministries were required to consult with over proposed use of land in rural areas for airfields, training camps and war industries. 1941-1960 CPRE campaigning helped lead to

2244-609: The city's green belt in 2014 with publication of a report entitled "Green Sprawl". Other organisations, including the Planning Officers Society, have since responded with specific calls for a review and proposals to balance land release with environmental protection. In 2016, the London Society and the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for London's Planning and Built Environment published plans for

2310-623: The country to consider protecting land around their towns and cities by the formal designation of clearly defined green belts. Green belt policy has been criticised for reducing the amount of land available for building and therefore pushing up house prices, as 70% of the cost of building new houses is the purchase of the land (up from 25% in the late 1950s). The government formerly set out its policies and principles towards green belts in England and Wales in Planning Policy Guidance Note 2: Green Belts , but this planning guidance

2376-676: The country to incorporate green belt proposals in their first development plans . The codification of Green Belt policy and its extension to areas other than London came with the historic Circular 42/55 inviting local planning authorities to consider the establishment of green belts. This decision was made in tandem with the 1946 New Towns Act, which sought to depopulate urban centres in the South East of England and accommodate people in new settlements elsewhere. Green belt could therefore be designated by local authorities without worry that it would come into conflict with pressure from population growth. As

2442-468: The countryside are being developed for use by local and regional planners. Effort is put into reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and the fight for farmers to be recognised for the work they do in protecting the character of the countryside. Planners are lobbied to ensure that as many new developments as possible are built on Brownfield (rather than Greenfield ) land. In particular CPRE

2508-459: The countryside. However, perhaps as a result of this pressure, in 2010, campaigning against inappropriate mineral extraction by opencast mining started to be featured under the 'Climate change and natural resources' section of CPRE's website. In 2011, the CPRE argued that not enough public consultation had been done on HS2 though a 5-month public consultation was currently being run at the time. The CPRE has been accused by some of exaggerating

2574-489: The creation of protected Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, something CPRE had campaigned for along with others. Attention was also paid to campaigns for sustainable energy generation and the use of brownfield land for building. In 1985 in a campaign to reform the EC's Agricultural Structures Directive, CPRE stopped funding for many damaging agricultural activities and secured the first “green” farm payments. In 1988 it helped persuade

2640-451: The development will outweigh the harm caused to the green belt. The NPPF sets out what would constitute appropriate development in the green belt. According to the NPPF, there are five stated purposes of including land within the green belt: Once an area of land has been defined as green belt, the stated opportunities and benefits include: Although 16 city and town urban cores are identified by

2706-453: The diminishing areas of the countryside not disturbed by man-made noise , visual intrusion or light pollution . These were updated using a pioneering new methodology in 2006. CPRE also published similar maps focusing solely on light pollution in 2003. In 1996, English composer John Rutter wrote the words and music for an anthem entitled "Look at the World" in celebration of the 70th anniversary of

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2772-408: The diversity they provide (2017). There is campaigning against large-scale fracking operation in the UK, that will destroy large areas of the countryside and exacerbate the global plastic binge (2018). A photography competition was started in 2016 to celebrate the beauty of Dorset's countryside (2016). CPRE's national office is at 5–11, Lavington Street, Southwark , London. It also has offices in

2838-475: The eight other regions of England . In addition there are CPRE branches in each of England's counties and groups in over 200 districts. All but two of the 43 CPRE branches are independent charities of their own. CPRE Durham and CPRE Northumberland are subsidiaries of national CPRE. Each CPRE branch has its own website. Members receive a quarterly magazine entitled 'Countryside Voices', and can opt to receive 'Fieldwork' which contains details of campaigns around

2904-655: The green belt, and has claimed that removing the green belt from land within ten minutes walk of a railway station would release enough land to build 1 million homes. In response to the claims made by the Adams Smith Institute, the Royal Town Planning Institute commissioned the Building In The Green Belt? report to look into the commuting patterns in London's metropolitan green belt. The study found only 7.4% of commuters, who lived near

2970-472: The greenbelts of new communities with lower building densities, their own built infrastructure and other facilities, and greater dependence on cars and commuting, etc. Meanwhile, valuable urban green space and brownfield sites best suited to industry and commerce are lost in existing conurbations as more and more new housing is crammed into them. Commentators such as Alan Evans and Tom Papworth have called for outright abolition of green belts, principally on

3036-664: The grounds that by inhibiting the free use of land they restrict home ownership. However, in England, where 65% of people are property-owners who benefit from scarcity of building land, the concept of "green belt" has become entrenched as a fundamental part of government policy, and the possibility of reviewing boundaries is often viewed with considerable hostility by environmental charities, neighbouring communities and their elected representatives. The general concept of "green belt" has evolved in recent years to encompass "Greenspace" and "Greenstructure", taking into account urban greenspace, an important aspect of sustainable development in

3102-580: The heart of Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire (the road was put into a cutting). 1961-1980 CPRE worked on the issues of indestructible plastics, loss of hedgerows, energy infrastructure and the UK coastline. When the M4 was built in 1963 CPRE successfully fought to protect the Berkshire Downs . It also began to seek for tighter control on advertising hoardings along roadsides. 1981-1990 This era saw

3168-413: The idea and implementation of green belts in the UK. Green belt policy has been attacked as too rigid in the face of new urban and environmental challenges, principally the lack of housing available in many cities in the UK. The policy has been criticised for reducing the amount of land available for building and therefore pushing up house prices, as 70% of the cost of building new houses is the purchase of

3234-502: The impact of light pollution, reducing carbon budgets and saving money by pushing councils to adjust street lighting. Under the What gets built where heading, CPRE's includes influencing development plans at local , regional and national level. There is also a focus on reducing “clutter” in the form of unnecessary road signs and advertising billboards in the countryside and seeking ways to protect quiet rural roads. Tools to map tranquility in

3300-587: The inviolability of the Greenbelt. YIMBYs have claimed that this policy denies both rural and urban communities the housing that, if planned correctly, they would want to build. The alleged success of CPRE's campaign to restrict housing on the rural-urban fringe has led John Myers, co-founder of London YIMBY, to describe it as 'the NRA of the UK' (referring to the National Rifle Association of America , rather than

3366-418: The land (up from 25% in the late 1950s). It has also been claimed that areas of green belt can be of unremarkable environmental quality, and may not be well managed or provide the recreational opportunities originally envisaged. The Town and Country Planning Association , an organisation heavily involved in initiating the concept several decades previously, published a policy statement in 2002, which proposed

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3432-517: The landscape setting of the city in question. In its Planning Policy (129), the Scottish Government states that: “All public bodies, including planning authorities, have a duty to further the conservation of biodiversity under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, and this should be reflected in development plans and development management decisions. Biodiversity is important because it provides natural services and products that we rely on,

3498-544: The large West Midlands conurbations centred around Birmingham and Coventry , discouraging convergence. It is managed by local planning authorities on guidance from central government. Land area taken up by the green belt is 231,291 hectares (571,530 acres), 1.7% of the total land area of England (2019). Tracts of green belt lie within the West Midlands county itself, much of it by the Meriden Gap in Solihull borough ; however,

3564-515: The main CPRE website, campaigns in 2022 are now grouped under the broad headlines, Dark Skies, Hedgerows, What gets built where, and the Climate Emergency. Under the Dark Skies heading, in 2013, Star Count was launched. This is a campaign to stop light pollution by involving the public in star-counting in order to map light pollution across the UK and raise awareness. A related idea is reducing

3630-890: The outward growth of London was seen to be firmly repressed, residents owning properties further from the built-up area also campaigned for this policy of urban restraint, partly to safeguard their own investments but often invoking an idealised scenic/rustic argument which laid the blame for most social ills upon urban influences. In mid-1971, for example, the government decided to extend the Metropolitan Green Belt northwards to include almost all of Hertfordshire . The Metropolitan Green Belt now covers parts of 68 different Districts or Boroughs. Since 1955 London's green belt has extended significantly, stretching some 35 miles out in places. London's green belt now covers an area of 516,000 hectares, an area broadly three times larger than that of London itself. The London Society began debate about

3696-418: The potential Oxford–Cambridge Expressway . Suggestions have been offered for a range of practical measures to be adopted by central and local government in order to support local food businesses so that they can provide fair and affordable prices. Preliminary work consisted of a five-year research – 'Mapping Local Food Webs' (2007–2012). Campaigns support farming funding that will stem loss of smaller farms and

3762-407: The then CPRE head, Shaun Spiers , about the organisation's opposition to wind farms but not opencast coal mines . George Monbiot asked why he couldn't find any opposition of the CPRE to surface coal mining over the past five years, and pointed out that the negative effects that coal mines cause by removing the soil from large areas are much greater than the negative effects wind energy might have on

3828-519: The threat to rural England and of being alarmist by warning that the Green Belt is in danger of being 'concreted over'. According to a right-wing think tank , the Institute for Economic Affairs , only about one-tenth of the English surface area, (rather than the Green Belt) is 'developed' in the broadest sense; about half of this 'development' consists of domestic gardens, leaving only one-twentieth which

3894-421: The unrelated British NRA ). A CPRE report admits more housing is needed but challenges the government statistics on numbers, stating they are based on aspiration rather than observed need. Criticism has also been targeted at the CPRE's emphasis on the use of brownfield sites over greenfield sites as a first choice for building, accusing it of overstating their ability to meet Britain's housing need. According to

3960-399: The vast coverage of the green belt completely envelops the county. The green belt stretches from Stafford and Telford through to Stratford-upon-Avon , Warwick , and Rugby . There is a small isolated portion of green belt separating Droitwich Spa and Worcester . The Stoke-on-Trent and Burton upon Trent/Swadlincote green belts lie around 10 miles (16 km) to the north. Due to

4026-455: Was agreement to place electricity transmission lines underground in some National Parks, something CPRE is still campaigning for. In 2018 after CPRE's 10-year campaign against drink-container litter, the Government announced that it is considering the introduction of a deposit return scheme to increase recycling rates. It is hoped by CPRE that the scheme will include all single use drink-containers, whether plastic, glass or metal. According to

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4092-570: Was estimated at 1,638,420 hectares, about 13 per cent of the land area. The distribution of green belt designated land by region of England as in 2003, 2013 and 2023 was as follows: * Counts are rounded The total area of green belt land in England since 2003 was as follows: As well as any underlying re-designations, changes in green belt area are explained in part by alterations in land designation by local authorities, and may also be influenced by improvements with measurement associated with digital mapping. Note that from 2006, estimates exclude

4158-458: Was formed following the publication of "The Preservation of Rural England" by Sir Patrick Abercrombie in 1926. Abercrombie became its Honorary Secretary. The inaugural meeting was held in December 1926 at the London offices of the Royal Institute of British Architects and was addressed by Neville Chamberlain , a future prime minister . Various groups were involved in its formation including

4224-681: Was one such case study city for the UK. Conclusions were published in "Case studies in Greenstructure Planning" . CPRE CPRE, The Countryside Charity , formerly known by names such as the Council for the Preservation of Rural England and the Campaign to Protect Rural England , is a charity in England with over 40,000 members and supporters. Formed in 1926 by Patrick Abercrombie to limit urban sprawl and ribbon development ,

4290-560: Was put forward by the London Society in its "Development Plan of Greater London" 1919. Alongside the CPRE they lobbied for a continuous belt (of up to two miles wide) to prevent urban sprawl, beyond which new development could occur. Implementation of the notion dated from Herbert Morrison 's 1934 leadership of the London County Council . It was first formally proposed by the Greater London Regional Planning Committee in 1935, "to provide

4356-525: Was superseded by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in March 2012. Planning authorities are strongly urged to follow the NPPF's detailed advice when considering whether to permit additional development in the green belt. In the green belt there is a general presumption against inappropriate development, unless very special circumstances can be demonstrated to show that the benefits of

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