Press the issues
Establishing the principle of Green Belt through the Regional Spatial Strategy
The broad extent of a new Green Belt will be established in the development of regional planning policy and the detailed boundaries in the plans of individual local authorities.
Make sure the case presented is appropriate to the geographical scale of each policy process. PPG2, paragraph 2.14 says that
....."proposals for new Green Belts should be considered through the Regional/ Strategic Guidance or Structure Plan process in the first instance."
Since PPG2 was written, regional and strategic-level planning policy has been reformed and it is now expressed through Regional Spatial Strategies.
New Green Belts must therefore be established as desirable in Regional Spatial Strategies. This can assist campaigners for new Green Belts, as it means that the case for them can be made to all the participating authorities through the same process and at the same time.
New Green Belts are therefore one of a series of policies which campaigners will wish to promote through the community involvement mechanisms during the review of Regional Spatial Strategies.
A significant effort will be required to both draw up the technical case for a new Green Belt and to campaign for that case across a wide area.
Regional Spatial Strategies are drawn up by Regional Planning Bodies (currently Regional Assemblies), which employ their own staff but still rely heavily on the professional assistance and political support of the local authorities within their regions.
The greater the level of support for a new Green Belt which can be generated amongst both the professional officers and the elected councillors in the affected area, the more likely the campaign will be successful. But it will also be crucial to influence central Government, as ultimately it is central Government that can allow or prevent new Green Belt from being created. It will therefore be very helpful to your case if you can gain support from your local MPs and national statutory agencies such as English Heritage and Natural England.
Planning officers in positions of influence in both local authorities and in the Regional Planning Body who can act as champions are likely to be particularly valuable.
Establishing detailed boundaries in Local Development Frameworks
Aim to ensure that land close to urban areas is included in the new Green Belt unless there are very sound reasons for its omission. Detailed Green Belt boundaries are established, on an Ordnance Survey base, at district level through the process of preparing Local Plans and Unitary Development Plans and, in future, Local Development Frameworks.
These boundaries are expected to be permanent (they can be varied only 'exceptionally'), so careful attention is given to choosing them (see paragraphs 2.8 and 2.9 of PPG2 for guidance on this).
Small areas of land may be proposed for omission, to allow for specific developments such as transport interchanges, the rounding off of developed areas, or park-and-ride facilities, any of which may be locally controversial.