Across parts of Staffordshire the proportions of
green belt land now developed comes in at: South Staffordshire (seven per cent), Stafford (five per cent) and Cannock Chase (six per cent).
"Last year only 0.02 per cent of the
green belt was developed for residential use and often this development is around road and rail infrastructure in place long before
green belt designation."
In Tandridge, for example, 94% of all the land area is in the
green belt. It's perhaps no surprise then that four in every 10 new builds in the area were built on
green belt land in 2015-18, totalling 290 homes.
At the meeting, developers also argued that 'safeguarded sites' in the local plan could be used in place of the
green belt.
Charlotte Castro, speaking on behalf of the group that campaigned against the Tameside allocations in the 2016 draft plan, said: "Whilst Save Tameside wholeheartedly welcomes the removal of some
green belt allocations in the new GMSF 2019 consultation and the new allocation of additional areas as designated
green belt, we are deeply concerned about the two proposed garden villages to be positioned within Hyde on large areas of protected
green belt.
Responding to the figures, a council spokesperson said: "The main issue here is that the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government don't count Local Green Space as part of their definition, so the reduction in our
green belt looks higher than it is in reality.
Detailed boundaries for the North Cheshire
Green Belt were defined through a series of local plans in the 1980s while boundaries for the South Cheshire
Green Belt were defined in the 1980s and early 1990s.
"The affordable housing crisis must be addressed with increasing urgency, while acknowledging that far from providing the solution, building on the
Green Belt only serves to entrench the issue.
However Hillingdon has the most
green belt land in west London, with 43% of the borough's land declared
green belt.
However, deputy director Salahuddin said that SDDA had not cut trees at the
green belt but at a plot, which was lying vacant for long and some trees had grown there.
Local residents were briefed on the report on Tuesday and campaigner Alan Doyle said although the verdict was "not the silver bullet", the Jockey Club would find it harder to secure planning permission it would require to build up to 3,000 homes at Kempton, which has been designated
green belt since 1956.
A HEATED debate about whether Cardiff should have a
green belt has ended in agreement.
