Green Belts - success story
We have been campaigning since 1926 for the protection of the countryside from urban sprawl. The Green Belts around London, Birmingham and Sheffield were among the first to be established in the 1930s.
The Town and Country Planning Act 1947 allowed local authorities to include Green Belt proposals in their development plans.
In 1955, in response to CPRE pressure, the Government set out a Green Belt policy. It asked for local authorities to consider protecting any land acquired around their towns and cities "by the formal designation of clearly defined Green Belts". The aims of the policy were to prevent urban sprawl and protect the countryside from further encroachment.
Our campaign to have Green Belts made a national policy
1926 — The Council for the Preservation of Rural England was formed
Patrick Abercrombie'sThe Preservation of Rural England introduced the concept of 'rural planning' to control the development of land outside cities, a symptom of 'Urban Decentralisation'. He called for a national joint committee to preserve the countryside. This was achieved when the Council for the Preservation of Rural England was formed in 1926.
1931 — Sheffield countryside gains protection from development
CPRE Sheffield and Peak District Branch help negotiate the purchase of 747 acres on the outskirts of Sheffield to prevent the spread of the city. Over the next decade, CPRE member and philanthropist Alderman Graves, purchases over a thousand acres of land around Sheffield to protect the landscape from development.
1932 — The Town and Country Planning Act 1932
The Town and Country Planning Act 1932 becomes the first legislation to accept the desirability of universal rural planning, which CPRE had been campaigning for.
1933 — Proposal for a London Green Belt
Raymond Unwin, technical advisor to the Greater London Regional Planning Committee, proposed a narrow 'green girdle' around London, designed to compensate for lack of open space for recreation within the city, rather than to halt urban sprawl.
1935 — Restriction of Ribbon Development Act 1935
The Act crowned CPRE's nine-year campaign against the sprawl of towns and cities across the countryside. 'Ribbon development' is linear development of long rows of buildings built along main roads leading out of towns.
1935 — Greater London Regional Planning Committee supports proposal for a London Green Belt
Greater London Regional Planning Committee put forward a scheme based on Raymond Unwin's ideas. London County Council leader, Lord Morrison of Lambeth, proposed to "provide a reserve supply of public open spaces and recreational areas and to establish a Green Belt or girdle of open space lands, not necessarily continuous, but as readily accessible from the completely urbanized area of London as practicable". This scheme became the basis of the Green Belt (London and Home Counties) Act in 1938.
1935 — Birmingham Green Belt
Cadbury Trustees begin to secure land for 'greenbelt' on the south-west edge of Birmingham, in co-operation with the City of Birmingham and the National Trust.
1937 — Bulstrode Park Green Belt campaign
CPRE Penn County Branch appeal to preserve Bulstrode Park from development under the LCC Green Belt Scheme.
1937 — Sheffield Green Belt campaign
Sheffield and Peak District Branch are invited to create a Green Belt Plan by Sheffield City Council. Their proposal was approved in July 1938.
1938 — Green Belt (London and Home Counties) Act
The LCC allocate £2m to assist local authorities in the purchase of open spaces, offering to pay up to 50% of the cost of any land selected for the green belt.
1944 — Campaign for Green Belt to be incorporated in the Greater London Plan
CPRE's Chairman, Sir Patrick Abercrombie incorporates a 'Green Belt ring' into his Greater London Plan for the Minister of Town and Country Planning: "In this ring the general intention is to provide primarily for recreation and fresh food for the Londoner, and to prevent further continuous suburban outward growth"
1947 — Town and Country Planning Act 1947
Without explicitly mentioning green belts, one innovation of the Act was to allow authorities to include proposals in the newly required Development Plans, and secure the land without having to buy it themselves. Local councils could refuse permission for land to be developed, with any compensation being paid by the Government from a fund of £300m.
1953 — Oxfordshire Green Belt campaign
CPRE Oxfordshire and the Oxford Preservation Trust lobby local councils for the establishment of a green belt around Oxford. CPRE expresses concern that encroachments are being made on provincial Green Belts and calls for formal protection and recognition of this land.
1954 — Government supports Green Belt
Circular 45/54 from the Ministry of Housing and Local Government declares that all development not in accordance with the Green Belt scheme requires prior reference to the Minister.
1955 — Bournemouth Green Belt campaign
CPRE Dorset and Hampshire branches begin work on devising a Green Belt for Bournemouth.
1955 — Government Green Belt national policy established
The Minister for Housing and Local Government, Duncan Sandys, urged all local authorities to protect any land acquired around their towns and cities "by the formal designation of clearly defined Green Belts." The circular set out the aims of Green Belt policy as "of checking the unrestricted sprawl of the built-up areas, and of safeguarding the surrounding countryside against further encroachment". Ministry of Housing and Local Government Green Belt Circular 42/55.
The Circular marks the first acknowledgement from the Government that the primary purpose of Green Belts is to halt urban sprawl and protect the countryside, rather than to provide land for the nutritional and recreational needs of cities. Most importantly, Green Belts became a valuable tool for the "preservation of the countryside" across the whole country.
