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.

Our local council rejected plans for more housing estates to be built on green belt farmland, the developers just went to the government (I can't remember the exact process/terminology) and it was approved immediately. No need to provide any affordable housing, no contribution to support the 1 local GP surgery, no contribution to support local issues with power/water supply, no need for any environmental controls.

I don't like nimbyism but I am so upset for the birds and other wildlife trying to live where once were fields

Exactly! It is just a pointless process. Gov will overturn any no.

Yes they seem to just overturn everything don't they. Our local council has no power to protect local greenbelt land. They've more than met their obligations for housebuilding, yet still the government overturns their decisions.

@CurbsideProphet Greenbelt or greenfield sites? They are not the same thing! There are 14 greenbelts in England. They are buffer zones mostly around cities/urban areas. They are not a few local fields.

The government has asked planning authorities to set ambitious building targets. There’s a presumption that smaller developments will be passed. There’s also an issue because the building sites haven’t been identified so the numbers built are woefully short. The government isn’t tolerating this and councils (planning) need to agree to more sites more quickly. My local council is finalising their sites in 2027, 3 years after the election. So what’s been happening in the last 2 years? Existing approvals are being built but nothing new. Most current building is old approvals but the government won’t get anywhere near 1.5 million at this rate. Between 2027-29 there should be a plan but then there’s detailed pp, council house allocations, size and mix of build, infrastructure, service provision and environmental concerns and design. In other words, don’t hold your breath!

The Planning Inspectorate deals with planning appeals in the vast majority of cases. They are independent the Government, but in accordance with planning law have to determine appeals in accordance with local and national policy (national policy being set by the government).
Local Council may put more weight on certain matters that may impact the local area when determining a planning application. At appeal, the inspector will determine strictly on planning grounds, which is when council decisions can be overturned.

Annually, less than a third of all planning appeals are allowed, so the majority of Council decisions are upheld.

People often use the words Greenbelt and Greenfield interchangeably. Greenbelt is not designated as such because it is beautiful green countryside, it is to prevent urban sprawl. A lot of Greenbelt land is actually pretty unremarkable farmland or grotty scrub.

@Ginmonkeyagain Exactly but we see so many posts about planning and using words incorrectly. The green belts are literally belts of land with planning restrictions - except when HS2 is designed of course! Householders cannot get much at all but the government can do what it wants and does.