The chair of the Three Rivers Joint Residents’ Association (TRJRA) is urging residents to support a petition calling on the government to change its definition of grey belt.
Published last year, the government’s draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) proposed reclassifying some areas of the green belt as grey belt if they do not meet the five green belt purposes, such as reducing urban sprawl. This is intended to help the housing crisis by releasing useful land for development.
Barry Grant, chair of TRJRA, said: “Grey belt was initially described by the government as poor-quality and ugly areas of green belt land like disused car parks or petrol stations.
“We were sold the concept that only a limited amount of building was envisaged on virgin green space within the green belt.
“However, the definition of grey belt in the new NPPF does not take into account two of the five purposes of green belt, one of which is to assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment. This omission makes the grey belt definition so broad it allows almost any development proposal on green belt land to succeed.
“Why? Well, in broad terms, unless a green belt site specifically checks the unrestricted sprawl of a large built-up area and prevents neighbouring towns merging into one another, it’s grey belt.
“We now see developers taking advantage of this omission to justify large-scale developments on green belt land.”
CPRE, the countryside charity, has petitioned the government to change its definition of grey belt in order to protect the green belt. To view the petition, visit www.cpreherts.org.uk/news/save-the-green-belt-our-petition-has-support-from-all-over-the-uk
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