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13
Mar
Council awarded funding for green belt review
North Yorkshire Council has been awarded £70,000 to undertake a review of the county’s green belt.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced financial support for local councils which are drawing up housing plans to meet newly imposed national housebuilding targets.
Up to £70,000 was made available for each authority that intended to undertake a review of its green belt amid the government’s drive to build more homes.
As part of the Labour government’s housebuilding agenda, ministers have significantly increased North Yorkshire’s housing need to 4,077 a year — it had previously been 1,361.
Currently, the council is drawing up a Local Plan which will set out where new houses and commercial developments can be built in the region over the next 15 to 20 years.
Now, the government has awarded £70,000 in funding to the council after it expressed an interest in financial support in January.
In a report, Matthew Lickes, planning policy and place manager at the council, said while the Local Plan is still in its early stages, the authority must assume that a review of the belt may be required.
He added that 7% of North Yorkshire is covered by green belt land — excluding the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors National Parks — which would fall under a review.
Mr Lickes said:
As the local plan covers an extensive area, the overwhelming majority of which is not affected by Green Belt designations, land outside the Green Belt is likely to provide significant opportunities for development. However, not all land outside the Green Belt will be suitable for development.
Constraints such as National Landscapes, protected environmental sites and areas at significant risk of flooding, which together cover extensive parts of the plan area, will provide strong reasons for restricting development. These, together with site-specific constraints, will reduce the potential for growth and may prevent development needs being fully accommodated, thereby automatically triggering the need for a Green Belt review.
Mr Lickes added that securing the funding will prevent any further delays in the Local Plan process, should a green belt review be required.
He said:
As work progresses and further evidence is produced the need for a green belt review will become better understood, although a definitive position may still not be possible until the plan is relatively advanced.
However, in knowledge that a Green Belt review may be required and given that the higher levels of development required by NPPF will increase the likelihood, it is incumbent on the council to prepare for a potential review in order to prevent delays to overall plan production timescales.
What is the green belt?
The green belt is protected areas of rural land where the building of new homes and businesses is only allowed in special circumstances.
It was first introduced in the 1960s to stop urban sprawl and protect Harrogate’s countryside from being dug up for developments.
Map of the green belt in the Harrogate district.
Much of Harrogate’s green belt is along its southern boundary with Leeds and covers 36,000 acres. Around 11% of the district is allocated to green belt land.
However, under the Labour government’s planning reforms, local authorities which cannot meet housing need will be required to carry out a review of green belt land.
This would help to release “grey belt” land, which is defined as land in the green belt comprising previously developed land or land which does not support the green belt designation.
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