Developers building on greenbelt land

[smallglassbottle]

In my area, developers are building on greenbelt land, cutting down trees and bulldozing hedgerows etc. Who is going to be able to afford these houses with the employment situation looking so poor, mainly through ai, wage stagnation etc.?

Why don't local councils sell town centre land for housing development seeing as many high streets are dying? I feel sad for the wildlife and trees.

They usually can't build on greenbelt, we had trouble getting planning for an extension because we back onto greenbelt. They are meant to use brownfield land as first choice.

They shouldn't be bulldozing hedgerows or chopping down trees in the nesting season at this time of year. It is illegal to disturb nesting birds.

It is surprising that they seem to be building houses everywhere, but there is still a shortage. Someone is buying them and if you are a buyer there may be deals to be done.

Absolutely- very strict rules about protecting all sorts of species including bats. Dh is a developer and recently got a site taken out of green belt but took 11 years.. and there was no wildlife, wasn’t used for anything not even walks.

You need to look at the planning documents. The developer needs to show the benefit outweighs detriment to greenbelt and a biodiversity benefit of 10%+. The site should also be sustainable. Not all councils own town centre (brown field/greybelt) land even if it were suitable for development.

What green belt specifically are you referring to?

It is designated greenbelt land on the information the county council have, but there are plans to build on it. The neighbouring village is objecting very strongly.

The building isn't taking place at the moment so no birds currently displaced, but it is going ahead. It's just sad that the hedgerows and trees will go. It happened at the other side of the village.

They are where I am. There is no brownfield left.

I'm sorry, I don't know what a biodiversity benefit is. Do you mean the development will benefit biodiversity?

What green belt are you talking about @smallglassbottle ??

Our estate is built on brownfield. Apparently the area has been designated a development area so it looks as though an entirely new town will be created by joining areas up.

Me and dh are too old to move, so we're stuck here seeing the green spaces being destroyed. I know people have to have somewhere to live, it's just hard watching the destruction.

I'm not telling you where I live.

There seems to be building going on every where. Here they are looking to build hundreds of houses on prime agricultural land, having recently completed a new 300 house estate in a tiny village with zero additional infrastructure, again on farmland. I visited a neighbouring county last weekend and exactly the same, major road developments etc. Lucky we don't need land to grow food or anything.

this is a highly controversial subject where I live, suburb of a major city

greenbelt is suddenly classified as “grey belt” now that the council can’t find enough brownfield sites to build their housing targets. Bear in mind councils won’t actually own a lot of brownfield sites that could be used. It’s essentially much more straightforward to build on fields than in urban areas.

there is a shortage of affordable housing sure but most of the houses proposed are expensive 5 beds which young people have no hope of buying

Right

So I’m guessing you’ve not done sufficient research and if we did know - a quick google would reveal that there’s a lot more to this than simply - bad developers on beautiful wildlife area

Quick google and turns out that there’s an emphasis on

poor-quality areas within the green belt for developing

What are you talking about? You think I'm being evasive? I'm not.

Well yes

You aren’t telling us the green belt in question

So, yes “evasive”!!

It's been ongoing since, at least, 2015 @catipuss

You want me to tell you where I live? That's not how this site works. I'm entitled to some anonymity.

In my area, developers are building on greenbelt land, cutting down trees and bulldozing hedgerows

The building isn't taking place at the moment so no birds currently displaced, but it is going ahead. It's just sad that the hedgerows and trees will go. It happened at the other side of the village.

You've said it's happened, it's happening now, it's not taking place at the moment and it will happen. You don't sound very clear which makes me feel like you're having an emotional reaction about green belt and birds in hedgerows unrelated to what's actually occurring. The comment about housing people in shopping areas in town centres is equally unrealistic. There are laws about green belt, trees, birds in hedgerows and all of that. If it genuinely is happening, take legal advice.

Yes, it's happened at the other side of the village. Houses up, people living in them. It is also planned at our side of the village and the neighbouring village.

Yes, it is an emotional reaction. I don't like to see wildlife destroyed. Not all of us enjoy seeing habitat destroyed.

But no hedgerows have been bulldozed and no birds have been displaced. That's just in your head at this point?

Plus saying - who can afford to buy these houses, ai etc etc - you do know there's a massive housing shortage right? People will buy them. Developers aren't doing it for no reason. You already say:

it's happened at the other side of the village. Houses up, people living in them.

So you know people can afford to buy these houses and need to live in them, regardless of ai.

Honestly, it's sounding a bit nimby. You want to live in your village. Other people do too and there aren't enough houses. If the developers break the laws there to protect nature, take them to court for that. But there's not going to be a load of empty houses standing out by the sounds of it.

Yes, hedgerows destroyed at the other side of the village. The development here goes way beyond nimbyism I'm afraid.