Campaign update
> Map: Green Belts under threat (PDF 13MB)
Green Belt loss, despite Government pledges
Our investigation into the Government’s record into safeguarding the Green Belt reveals that there has been a significant loss of Green Belt since 1997 and more is under threat from development. Since 1997 over 1,100 hectares of Green Belt have been lost each year and at least 45,240 homes have been built on Green Belt land.
City Green Belts under threat
London’s Green Belt boundaries are being reviewed in 18 separate locations with a view to accommodating new housing development. In Nottingham, government inspectors have recommended wholesale removal of the Green Belt on three out of four sides of the city.
Policy being undermined
We’ve found that planning inspectors are undermining the Green Belt policy by interpreting it in their own way and suggesting the demand for new development; including housing and airport expansion justify changes to Green Belt boundaries.
The not so green eco-towns
Two eco-town proposals could lead to further losses of Green Belt land, contradicting the claims of ministers that none would be built on Green Belt land.
Good news on Green Belts
The New Forest, National Park has been created from existing Green Belt land. The Government refused a number of damaging development proposals in the West Midlands and safeguarded existing Green Belt boundaries in North West England.
What we need
We want to see a strong commitment by the Government to uphold existing policy and carry out an urgent review of the latest threats to the Green Belt.
> CPRE briefing: Green Belts: robustly protected or under threat? (PDF 94K)
CPRE Oxfordshire creates 50-mile Green Belt walk
CPRE Oxfordshire has created the Oxford Green Belt Way, a 50-mile circular walk around Oxford – one mile for each year since the designation of Oxford's Green Belt in 1956. The route was created using existing footpaths and bridleways and took more than a year to design. The walk was opened by Boris Johnson MP, in July 2007 as part of CPRE Oxfordshire's 75th birthday celebrations. See the Green Belt Way website for a map and walk description.
> Website: The Green Belt Way
Our influence
CPRE helped to create Green Belts and we have campaigned hard since the 1930s for the protection of existing Green Belt as well as the establishment of new Green Belt land. We successfully campaigned for a new Green Belt in Durham in the 1990s.
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