[Puffer Fish]

England has long maintained "green belts" around its biggest cities. Traditionally, these were areas of farmland (and some undeveloped forest area) surrounding major cities which the government prohibited from development, so that the city development would not sprawl too far outwards. It was designed to maintain open green space not too far away from cities.

In the past (1980s) these green belts were praised by urban planners, and urban planners in the U.S. pointed to the English pattern as an ideal of what sorts of urban design policies the U.S. should have pursued.

But today, with the high levels of immigration and housing shortages, there is tremendous pressure to allow development of these green belts.


This is from one news article:

Cabinet minister says 'controversial' planning reforms will make home ownership more achievable

Pat McFadden said Labour's planning reforms are likely to be "controversial" but would help make home ownership more achievable, as the Government's legislative plans are set to be announced in the King's Speech on Wednesday. Mr McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said "it takes too long for things to get built in the UK", including economic growth drivers like infrastructure and data centres. Asked on BBC Breakfast about the Government's planning reforms, he said: "There is a generation of young people who are wondering, 'when am I going to get the chance to have a home of my own, either for rent or for purchase?' "What we used to think was a very achievable aspiration for the British people has become a less achievable aspiration in recent years. We want to make it more achievable. And to do that, we're going to have to build more houses than we have."
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Cabinet minister says 'controversial' planning reforms will make home ownership more achievable , Daily Mail Online , July 2024


So sacrifices in city design and the quality of living will have to be made to accommodate more people.

People living in big city areas in England will no longer be able to have huge areas of open less developed space that they can travel to nearby.

I always thought seeing open fields of farmland was beautiful, and was glad government policy maintained those open green spaces. Easy to feel claustrophobic sometimes always being in a crowded city.


related thread: Oregon under pressure to repeal a law that limited suburban sprawl, due to population increase , (Environment & Conservation, 26 Feb, 2024)

[Puffer Fish]

Apparently there are many people unhappy about this plan:

‘Build, build, build is no answer – just think what we would lose’ | Metro (UK)


Here are some more details about the plan:

Mapped: New ‘grey belt’ areas where Labour could build 300,000 homes, by Melissa Lawford, The Telegraph, 20 July 2024

(free article also available here )


Looks like most of the green belt area that will be turned into housing is around London, not surprisingly.


Martin Tett, Tory leader of Buckinghamshire council, is not happy about Labour's plan. According to an analysis by property data company LandTech, Buckinghamshire also has the largest amount of potential "grey belt" land that will be unlocked for development under Britain’s new Labour Government - exceeding any other local authority in London's green belt.

Releasing so-called grey belt land was a key Labour manifesto pledge as part of the Party’s drive to build 1.5 million homes over this parliament. Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her first major speech to fire the starting gun on Labour’s pledge to "get Britain building again" and made it clear that local authorities will need to start prioritising grey belt sites for development.

Tett is highly concerned about Labour’s plans to release grey belt land.

“This term is ill defined and could mean virtually anything ... My fear is that we will end up with many of the towns and villages in south Buckinghamshire effectively merging with London,” he says.
“This is not about nimbyism – it’s about protecting our communities and our environment from inappropriate sprawl and focusing instead as much as possible on brownfield sites.”

Labour's messaging so far suggests green belt sites for up to 316,000 homes will be unlocked for development, according to LandTech.
These will be built across 2,728 sites that together make up nearly 10,000 hectares of land, or 13,400 football pitches.
The vast majority of these sites (some 1,124) will be around London, as the capital naturally has the largest green belt in the country.

But there is currently no official definition of what the grey belt actually is. "Bluntly, it is something that the Labour Party have made up," says Harry Quartermain, LandTech’s head of research and insights.

All green belt land across the country is prime in the eyes of developers, says Coop. "Green belts are put around major towns and cities, all of which have demand and pressure for more housing. Any of those places will see demand for grey belt sites to come forward."