Countryside campaigners CPRE, in conjunction with Myerscough College [1] are today (Wednesday) launching a survey on the future use of the Green Belt, the countryside surrounding Liverpool and covering most of Merseyside.

The survey is one of the first steps CPRE is taking to deliver our manifesto for the countryside in 2026. [2] The Vision calls for a countryside that provides more beautiful landscape, tranquillity, recreation opportunities and fresh food.

The Green Belt has an important role to play in achieving this. The Merseyside Green Belt is particularly important because it contains a higher proportion of the very best quality agricultural land than any other area in the UK. [3]

Through the survey we aim to get the views of people who live in inner city Liverpool and areas nearer to the Green Belt. We’re also keen to involve people who live in, own and/or manage land in the Green Belt. We are asking people to contribute to the survey before the end of July. [4]

The survey comes at a time when the Government is carrying out a high level study reviewing whether Green Belts are fit for the future. [5]

Nick Thompson, chair of CPRE North West, said:

‘The Green Belt around Liverpool and the wider Merseyside area offers local people a vast range of benefits. But which of these are the most important? The Green Belt is the countryside next door to over a million people, from the inner cities to the outer suburbs. We particularly want views from people who are concerned about the future of Liverpool and its countryside, but who don’t join environmental groups or respond to planning policy consultations.’

Liverpool City Council’s executive member for the environment, Councillor Berni Turner, said:

‘Merseyside has some of the most beautiful green spaces in the country.  As part of Liverpool’s Year of the Environment we want to do as much as we can to encourage residents and visitors to not only spend time in these green havens, but also think about how vital these areas are for our community.

‘This survey plays a very important role in raising public awareness of these essential environmental assets and I hope as many people as possible take part.’

Craig Thompson, Learning Area Manager – Agriculture, Countryside and Access at Myerscough College said:

‘Taking part in this survey is very important for the future of the Green Belt. We need the public’s views to inform decision makers about the rural space in and around Merseyside.’

Nick Thompson concluded:

‘By taking part in our survey, the people of Merseyside can send out a strong statement that they value their surrounding countryside and want to get more from it in future.’

INFORMATION FOR EDITORS

Online versions of the survey, and pdf versions can be found our Green Belt campaign pages. There are different survey forms for the general public and for landowners and managers.
> Green Belt campaign: survey

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NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. CPRE, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is a charity which promotes the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England. We advocate positive solutions for the long-term future of the countryside. Founded in 1926, we have 60,000 supporters and a branch in every county. President: Bill Bryson. Patron: Her Majesty The Queen. www.cpre.org.uk

The survey forms part of CPRE’s Green Belts for a Greener Future project. The project has been made possible by a grant from Rufford Maurice Laing (www.rufford.org). In Merseyside the survey is being co-ordinated by Myerscough College (www.myerscough.ac.uk), a land-based higher and further education college based in Preston and with a centre in the Green Belt at Croxteth Country Park, Liverpool.

2. For more details of CPRE’s 2026 Vision for the Countryside see our campaign section:
> Campaigns: 2026 A Vision for the Countryside

3. According to a briefing paper issued by the former North West Regional Assembly (undated but approximately 2001): ‘Green Belt in Merseyside is tightly drawn around the urban fringe and covers some 300km2 and contains much of the conurbation’s countryside and agricultural land. In the case of the latter much of this land is high quality with Merseyside having a higher proportion of Grade 1 land than any other area in the NW [North West] and UK.
>  North West Regional Planning website: Green Belt in the NorthWest (94KPDF)

Most of this high quality land is in an area to the south, north and east of Southport (source: www.magic.gov.uk).

4. The survey invites people to think about whether we use the Green Belt to encourage wildlife through better land management; support local farming through buying and marketing locally produced food; or create more pathways, cycleways, and woodland, as the Mersey Forest (www.merseyforest.org.uk) has already been doing since 1994. CPRE will analyse and report the findings in autumn 2009. We will use the information nationally to input to the current Government study on the use of land across England, and locally in our work with local authorities on the future planning of how we use the Green Belt.

5. The Government think tank UK Foresight is currently carrying out a study titled ‘Land Use Futures’. The project website indicates that Foresight is likely to look carefully at Green Belts, whose primary purposes include preventing urban sprawl and protecting the countryside from encroachment. For example: ‘The Town and Country Planning Act 1947 … established a land use model which makes a clear distinction between urban and rural land use that is largely unaltered today. The extent to which such historical imperatives shaping land use patterns and practices are still relevant today will be explored in the project, including whether the containment strategy that separates town from country so sharply continues to be appropriate and whether the frameworks underpinning current structures and patterns deliver socially desirable and environmentally sustainable outcomes for the future.’
>  Foresight website: Land Use Futures – Summary of the process and outputs from the scoping phase