Grey Belt Land Is Being Freed Up!

Grey or Green?

Citrus welcomes the Government’s announcement on freeing up lesser attractive areas of Green Belt the so called “Grey Belt”. James Taylor Citrus Group’s Regional Director and Group Head of Planning has this to say about grey belt land and the initiative.

“This is arguably a much-needed move by government to refresh how as a Country we consider development in the Green Belt and the criteria for doing so. Previous policy did permit some development on previously developed land within the Green Belt but this was flawed as the test on not harming the openness was always a high bar!

In our experience the Grey Belt is not the answer to hitting the 1.5m new homes by the end of the government’s term, but it can be a contributor to housing land supply giving Local Authorities more flexibility on the land they bring forward and helping to alleviate what is in some areas acute pressure on the Green Belt from housing demand.

Arguably there are bolder steps that could be taken, some LA’s have already been bold and deallocated less valued areas of Green Belt recognising that considerable time has elapsed since the Green Belt boundaries were first drawn and carried through from plan to plan without reassessment.

For the Government’s policy to succeed it must be bold, unambiguous and unwavering in its ambition so Local Authorities can use it with conviction.

For anyone who has been involved in ushering cultural change in business it is not a change which happens quickly or easily. Green Belt and the sacrosanct nature of it is a widely valued symbol of enduring planning policy by many communities, in this respect it has been very successful. The Government’s messaging, constant reinforcement and employing all the symbols of change will be needed as understandably there will be push back at the local level. Some will see this as stealth policy to erode the strong values of the Green Belt.

For the Local decision makers (many of whom will be supportive of this change) it presents lots of inherent challenges, which is ultimately why many LA’s decide not to fiddle with the Green Belt so the Government has to be robust if this is to be a success.

It is an exciting period for planning reform and ushering in a new wave of development impetus and we look forward to the opportunities this can bring to the sector.