By Laura Potts, MRTPI, Planning Consultant, CAD Architects
The grey belt is a new term to most people – it was coined by Labour politicians in April 2024, prior to the recent election, in order to explain how they would meet their ambitious goal for delivering 1.5m new homes over the next five years.
They announced plans to make it easier to build on poorer quality parts of the green belt – areas they are calling “grey belt.”
Understandably, as ‘grey belt’ is such a new term, some of our clients at CAD Planning have been asking us for clarification. So we thought it would be useful to summarise what ‘grey belt’ means.
The Labour party’s initial description went some way to explaining what they meant by this term but was criticised as being too vague. The grey belt was initially described as “poor-quality scrub land, mothballed on the outskirts of towns” and “poor-quality and ugly areas.”
The new version of the National Planning Policy Framework is expected to come into force this autumn, following a consultation which closes on 24th September 2024. The draft document goes into more detail about what the new government means by the grey belt and, notwithstanding that the definition may be refined further following the consultation, its meaning is now clearer.
Firstly, as background and to provide some context, let’s look at what the ‘green belt’ is.
Established over 70 years ago, ‘green belt’ is a planning designation given to areas of land surrounding towns and cities. It is designed to stop urban sprawl and to stop nearby towns merging into each other. For clarity, there are no areas of green belt in Cornwall. However, we do have other landscape designations around urban areas, and therefore, the proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework are still relevant to planning in general, and the approach may filter down to other areas.
Despite its name, the green belt designation actually has nothing to do with the natural quality of the landscape or whether it is green space or not. In fact, much of the green belt is already developed – for example with disused car parks, old petrol stations, storage yards and farm buildings, or it is wasteland.
The government plan to let homes be built on some of those poorer quality areas of land. In their words, “we don’t think it is right that wastelands and old car parks located on the green belt are given the same protections in national policy as rolling hills and nature spots in the green belt.”
In their consultation draft for the National Planning Policy Framework, the government tells us that the “grey belt” is: ‘land in the green belt comprising Previously Developed Land and any other parcels and/or areas of Green Belt land that make a limited contribution to the five Green Belt purposes’.
So what is meant by ‘previously developed land’ and ‘a limited contribution to the green belt?
“Previously Developed Land” is commonly referred to as brownfield land.
Although those sites can be redeveloped under current rules, new buildings have to be of a similar size and in similar locations to those they replace – preventing sites being redeveloped to their maximum potential.
So by including those sites in the definition of grey belt, existing brownfield sites in the green belt can be redeveloped more intensively.
And what is meant by ‘a limited contribution to the green belt?’
The consultation document says that for a site to make a limited contribution to the green belt, it must meet the following criteria:
a) Not strongly perform against any Green Belt purpose; and
b) Have at least one of the following features:
i. Land containing substantial built development or which is fully enclosed by built form
ii. Land which makes no or very little contribution to preventing neighbouring towns from merging into one another
iii. Land which is dominated by urban land uses, including physical developments
iv. Land which contributes little to preserving the setting and special character of historic towns
National planning policy sets out five purposes that the green belt is supposed to achieve. They are:
a) to check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas;
b) to prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another;
c) to assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment;
d) to preserve the setting and special character of historic towns; and
e) to assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land.
Whether or not a site does “strongly perform” those purposes is to be judged by local councils. The government has said they require local authorities to review their green belt if needed to meet housing targets and prioritise local quality grey belt land.
Moreover, for a site to secure planning permission on grey belt land, there are a number of “golden rules” that developments will have to meet if planning permission is to be secured.
- At least half of the new homes should be affordable housing;
- Infrastructure – like roads, schools and healthcare provision – should be improved where necessary; and
- New residents should be able to easily walk to a good quality green space – which could mean providing a new one, or upgrading an existing space.
We look forward to seeing the outcome of the current consultation including further clarification on the criteria for grey belt land and how it can be used to increase the supply of new homes in future.
The current draft consultation document on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework can be found here.