Development in the Green Belt
| Author | William Webster |
| Pages | 349-369 |
Chapter 18
Development in the Green Belt
INTRODUCTION
18.1 The importance of restricting development in Green Belts (by allowing Green Belt boundaries to be altered or by restricting inappropriate development in the Green Belt except in very special circumstances) is given prominent treatment in the National Planning Policy Framework 2012 (NPPF) at paragraphs 79 to 92. For the purposes of decision-taking, these policies are material considerations which local planning authorities (LPAs) should take into account.
Reference should also be made to the decision of the Court of Appeal in Turner v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
350 Planning Law: A Practitioner’s Handbook
POLICIES AFFECTING GREEN BELTS IN NPPF (PLAN-MAKING AND DECISION-TAKING)
18.2 The relevant policies are set out below in full:
9. Protecting Green Belt land
79. The Government attaches great importance to Green Belts. The fundamental aim of Green Belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open; the essential characteristics of Green Belts are their openness and their permanence.
80. Green Belt serves five purposes:
♦ 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; and
♦ to assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land.
81. Once Green Belts have been defined, local planning authorities should plan positively to enhance the beneficial use of the Green Belt, such as looking for opportunities to provide access; to provide opportunities for outdoor sport and recreation; to retain and enhance landscapes, visual amenity and biodiversity; or to improve damaged and derelict land.
82. The general extent of Green Belts across the country is already established. New Green Belts should only be established in exceptional circumstances, for example when planning for larger scale development such as new settlements or major urban extensions. If proposing a new Green Belt, local planning authorities should:
♦ demonstrate why normal planning and development management policies would not be adequate;
♦ set out whether any major changes in circumstances have made the adoption of this exceptional measure necessary;
objection), the court held that one of the considerations was likely to be the scale of the shortfall. Other factors included the planning context within which that shortfall was to be seen. Where the district was subject on a considerable scale to policies protecting much or most of the undeveloped land from development except in exceptional or very special circumstances, then it might be wholly unsurprising that there was not a five-year supply of housing land. A decision-maker may then be entitled to conclude that some degree of shortfall in housing land supply was inevitable, which might affect the weight to be attached to the shortfall. The Green Belt might come into play both in that broader context and in the site specific context where it was the trigger for the requirement that very special circumstances be shown. That was an approach which took account of the need to read the NPPF as a whole. It would be irrational to say that one took account of the constraints embodied in the policies of the NPPF, such as the Green Belt, and yet to require a decision-maker to close his eyes to the existence of those restraints when making a development control decision. They were clearly relevant planning considerations in both exercises.
Development in the Green Belt 351
♦ show what the consequences of the proposal would be for sustainable development;
♦ demonstrate the necessity for the Green Belt and its consistency with Local Plans for adjoining areas;
♦ show how the Green Belt would meet the other objectives of the Framework.
83. Local planning authorities with Green Belts in their area should establish Green Belt boundaries in their local plans which set the framework for Green Belt and settlement policy. Once established, Green Belt boundaries should only be altered in exceptional circumstances, through the preparation or review of the Local Plan.
84. When drawing up or reviewing Green Belt boundaries local planning authorities should take account of the need to promote sustainable patterns of development. They should consider the consequences for sustainable development of channelling development towards urban areas inside the Green Belt boundary, towards towns and villages inset within the Green Belt or towards locations beyond the outer Green Belt boundary.
85. When defining boundaries, local planning authorities should:
♦ ensure consistency with the Local Plan strategy for meeting identified requirements for sustainable development;
♦ not include land which it is unnecessary to keep permanently open;
♦ where necessary, identify in their plans areas of ‘safeguarded land’ between the urban area and the Green Belt, in order to meet longer-term development needs stretching well beyond the plan period;
♦ make clear that the safeguarded land is not allocated for development at the present time. Planning permission for the permanent development of safeguarded land should only be granted following a Local Plan review which proposes the development;
♦ satisfy themselves that Green Belt boundaries will not need to be altered at the end of the development plan period; and
♦ define boundaries clearly, using physical features that are readily recognisable and likely to be permanent.
352 Planning Law: A Practitioner’s Handbook
86. If it is necessary to prevent development in a village primarily because of the important contribution which the open character of the village makes to the openness of the Green Belt, the village should be included in the Green Belt. If, however, the character of the village needs to be protected for other reasons, other means should be used, such as conservation area or normal development management policies, and the village should be excluded from the Green Belt.
87. As with previous Green Belt policy, inappropriate development is, by definition, harmful to the Green Belt and should not be allowed except in very special circumstances.
88. When considering any planning application, local planning authorities should ensure that substantial weight is given to any harm to the Green Belt. ‘Very special circumstances’
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting