What are Green Belts?

The concept of Green Belt has been around since the 1930s, but it was the Town and Country Planning Act in 1947 that gave local authorities powers to designate them within their local plans. Their purpose has remained largely consistent overtime, and the extent of Green Belts has been broadly unchanged since the 1970s.

Outlined in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the five core purposes of Green Belts are:

1.      To check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas

2.      To prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another

3.      To assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment

4.      To preserve the setting and special character of historic towns

5.      To assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land.

Not all land outside built up areas is designated as Green Belt; however they are mostly identified as a ring of selected land, of differing widths, around some major cities. The Metropolitan Green Belt surrounding London is one example. The other main area in the southeast is The Oxford Greenbelt which covers the land around Oxford, in Oxfordshire.