The Greenbelt - What is it?

According to The Campaign for Rural England (CPRE), the Greenbelt is green space, usually around large cities, which is protected from developments like new roads or buildings. The idea of Green Belts has been around since 1890 when it was proposed by a town planner called Ebenezer Howard to ‘always preserve a belt of country around our cities’.

This idea was first formally proposed by the London Regional Planning Committee in 1929, after fears that urban expansion was resulting in a lack of green space in the capital. Fast-forward to 1938, and the protection of London’s Green Belt land was formalised in law with the purpose of keeping urban sprawl in check, preventing towns from merging together and promoting the recycling of derelict land. 

Nearly a century since Green Belts were first formalised, London’s Green Belt is now one of 14 others throughout the country, covering 1,638,610 hectares of England’s land area – that’s an area more than three-quarters the size of Wales. This means that 13% of England has the absolute highest level of land protection that we have, meaning that it should never be built on except in exceptional circumstances.

As time has gone on, the purpose of Green Belt has also expanded. Originally devised for the purpose of protecting open land, we now know they have masses more benefits, such as tackling issues such as air pollution, slowing and reducing the impacts of climate change and providing essential habitats for wildlife. And many Green Belt areas are in agricultural use, meeting local needs for food.

Amongst this, we definitely can’t overlook the benefits that Green Belt can offer for our health and wellbeing. It’s not surprising that we’re using these areas for fresh air and exercise. England’s Green Belts are criss-crossed with public rights of way, including over 12% of the country’s National Cycle Network, and roundly stocked with gorgeous outdoor areas including 23% of the country’s registered parks and gardens and 47% of all country parks.

And these girdles of green around our built-up areas are rich in nature, too. Over a third of the country’s community forests (forests connected to and nearby urban communities) are in the Green Belt, as well as tens of Local Nature Reserves. These corridors of nature and green space work brilliantly for wildlife, allowing creatures to move between habitats safely and flourish in a mix of landscapes.

But for all their benefits, our Green Belts aren’t without their threats. The number of housing units proposed on Green Belt land has continued to increase since 2012. Challenged by housing targets, Local Planning Authorities often remove land from the Green Belt to provide space to meet housing targets – something that should only happen under ‘exceptional circumstances’. In our view instead of viewing the Green Belts as a limitation to building more homes, we need to focus on restoring and enhancing the Green Belt so it can continue to provide a space for nature and a place to relax, play and grow our food.