Local authority green belt: England 2021-22 - statistical release
Published 16 September 2022
Applies to England
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1. Main points
- The extent of land designated as Green Belt in England as at 31 March 2022 was estimated at 1,638,150 hectares, around 12.6% of the land area of England.
- Overall there was an increase of 24,150 hectares (1.5%) in the area of land designated as Green Belt between 31 March 2021 and 31 March 2022.
- In 2021-22, 14 local authorities adopted new local plans or neighbourhood plans, with the result being a net increase of 24,150 hectares in the overall area of land designated as Green Belt compared to 31 March 2021.
- In addition, updates to the Local Authority District (Mean High Water mark) boundaries resulted in no net change in the area of land designated as Green Belt.
2. Context
England has a land area of just under 13,046,240 hectares[footnote 1] of which 8% is of developed use[footnote 2] with around 11% being classified as ‘built-up’[footnote 3]. When including land designated as Green Belt, just over 37% of the area of England (4.9 million hectares) is protected against development by one or more environmentally-protected designations. Environmentally-protected designations include National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).
The National Planning Policy Framework states the government attaches great importance to Green Belts. The fundamental aim of Green Belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open; the essential characteristics of Green Belts are their openness and their permanence.
Green Belt serves 5 purposes:
- to check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas;
- to prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another;
- to assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment;
- to preserve the setting and special character of historic towns; and
- to assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land.
Once Green Belts have been defined, local planning authorities should plan positively to enhance their beneficial use, such as looking for opportunities to provide access; to provide opportunities for outdoor sport and recreation; to retain and enhance landscapes, visual amenity and biodiversity; or to improve damaged and derelict land.
Once established, Green Belt boundaries should only be altered where exceptional circumstances are fully evidenced and justified, through the preparation or updating of plans. Strategic policies should establish the need for any changes to Green Belt boundaries, having regard to their intended permanence in the long term, so they can endure beyond the plan period. Where a need for changes to Green Belt boundaries has been established through strategic policies, detailed amendments to those boundaries may be made through non-strategic policies, including neighbourhood plans.
Inappropriate development is, by definition, harmful to the Green Belt and should not be approved except in very special circumstances.
When considering any planning application, local planning authorities should ensure that substantial weight is given to any harm to the Green Belt. ‘Very special circumstances’ will not exist unless the potential harm to the Green Belt by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm resulting from the proposal, is clearly outweighed by other considerations.
2.1 Related publications
It is useful to consider this statistical release alongside other statistical releases published by the department. The Land use statistical release provides a breakdown of land uses within the Green Belt at local authority level.
The Land use change statistics provide information on the proportion of new residential addresses created within the Green Belt and the previous use of the land on which the new residential addresses were created, also at local authority level. Land use change in terms of hectarage is also available within the Green Belt.
3. Extent of the Green Belt as at 31 March 2022
The extent of land designated as Green Belt in England as at 31 March 2022 is shown in Map 1, below. It was estimated at 1,638,150 hectares, around 12.6% of the land area of England. A regional breakdown of the number of hectares designated as Green Belt and the proportion of the total regional land area designated as Green Belt is shown below in Table 1.
The table shows the South East has the largest area of land designated as Green Belt with 305,430 hectares, followed by the West Midlands with 264,950 and Yorkshire and The Humber with 262,280 hectares. Out of the 9 regions, London has the smallest area of land designated as Green Belt with 34,780 hectares but has the highest proportion of its total land area designated as Green Belt with 22.1%. The region with the smallest percentage of its land designated as Green Belt is the South West with 107,600 hectares, accounting for 4.5% of its total land area.
Table 1: Regional breakdown of Green Belt land
| Region | Green Belt area (hectares) | Percentage of total land area |
|---|---|---|
| ENGLAND | 1,638,150 | 12.6 |
| East Midlands | 77,470 | 5.0 |
| East of England | 231,560 | 12.1 |
| London | 34,780 | 22.1 |
| North East | 98,640 | 11.5 |
| North West | 255,440 | 18.0 |
| South East | 305,430 | 16.0 |
| South West | 107,600 | 4.5 |
| West Midlands | 264,950 | 20.4 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 262,280 | 17.0 |
Note: hectarage figures are rounded to the nearest 10 hectares.
Map 1: Extent of Green Belt as at 31 March 2022
3.1 Urban core areas
Land designated as Green Belt is distributed around sixteen urban cores. These are mapped using the teal areas in Map 1 and are listed in Table 4 which also shows the area of land associated with each urban core. The Metropolitan Green Belt (London) is the largest area of Green Belt surrounding an urban core and accounts for 31% of the land designated as Green Belt in England. Urban cores are non-statutory descriptive areas with no fixed names.
The ‘Area by LA’ table in the Accompanying tables shows estimates of the area of land designated as Green Belt within each of the 180 local authorities (out of 309 local authorities) that had some land designated as Green Belt as at 31 March 2022. The ‘Change in area by LA’ table in the Accompanying tables compares estimates as at 31 March 2022 with the revised estimates as at 31 March 2021 by local authority.
3.2 Changes in methodology
A methodological change was introduced as part of the 2019-20 statistical release providing general improvements to mapping accuracy, boundary definitions and area calculations. The area of land designated as Green Belt for each Local Authority was previously calculated by local authorities but is now calculated by DLUHC using the digital Green Belt boundary files provided by the local authorities. The local authority Green Belt boundaries are mapped against ONS Local Authority District (Mean High Water mark) boundaries[footnote 4] for the corresponding period. This results in greater accuracy in the delimiting of land designated as Green Belt where it meets coastal or estuarine areas and ensures a consistent national approach.
DLUHC applied the changes in methodology to the Green Belt data for previous years to ensure a consistent time series. Revisions were been made to the hectarage figures from 2013-14 onwards allowing users to better track the changes to the Green Belt over time.
The ‘Net Changes’ section was amended to record the year on year net change made to the area of land designated as Green Belt resulting from Local Authority designation policies and net changes resulting from updates made to the Local Authority District (Mean High Water mark) boundaries for the corresponding period.
4. Net changes
Overall, there was a net increase of 24,150 hectares (1.5%) in the area of land designated as Green Belt in England between 31 March 2021 and 31 March 2022.
In 2021-22, 14 local authorities adopted new plans that involved a change in area of the authority’s land designated as Green Belt, resulting in a net increase of 24,150 hectares in the overall area of land designated as Green Belt compared to 31 March 2021. The changes are set out in Table 2. There may be discrepancies between individual figures due to rounding, with all figures rounded to the nearest ten hectares.
Table 2: Local authorities which adopted new boundaries for designated land as Green Belt 2021-22
| Local Authority | Area of designated Green Belt land 31 March 2021 (hectares) | Area of designated Green Belt land 31 March 2022 (hectares) | Change from 31 March 2022 (hectares) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brentwood | 13,730 | 13,300 | -430 (-3%) |
| Buckinghamshire | 50,150 | 50,280 | 130 (0%) |
| Central Bedfordshire | 28,220 | 26,930 | -1,290 (-5%) |
| Doncaster | 23,260 | 23,040 | -220 (-1%) |
| Halton | 2,490 | 2,080 | -410 (-16%) |
| Havering | 6,070 | 6,070 | 0 (0%) |
| North East Derbyshire | 10,360 | 10,330 | -30 (0%) |
| North Warwickshire | 17,290 | 17,260 | -30 (0%) |
| Northumberland | 43,570 | 70,360 | 26,790 (61%) |
| Rossendale | 3,120 | 3,070 | -50 (-2%) |
| Runnymede | 5,800 | 5,800 | 0 (0%) |
| Waverley | 20,870 | 20,850 | -20 (0%) |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | 16,480 | 16,270 | -210 (-1%) |
| Woking | 4,020 | 3,950 | -70 (-2%) |
Note: hectarage figures are rounded to the nearest 10 hectares
Of the 14 local authorities reporting changes to their land designated as Green Belt, Northumberland accounted for 90% of the total change alone, with an increase in its Green Belt of 26,790 hectares or 61%. The total change in land designated as Green Belt in 2021-22 regardless of the direction of change was 29,680 hectares.
The reported increase of 24,150 hectares of land designated as Green Belt during 2021-22 is the only annual increase in land designated as Green Belt since the current methodology was first applied in 2013-14. The increase is also the largest annual increase on the Department’s record since 1997. The number of local authorities making changes to land designated as Green Belt has remained steady in recent years but has increased particularly from 2014-15 onwards. Local authorities making changes to their Green Belt provide explanations for the changes on their AGB return. These explanations are reviewed as supplemented by the Department where necessary and are available within Annex A.
Updates made to the Local Authority District (Mean High Water mark) boundaries resulted in no net change in the area of land designated as Green Belt. A breakdown of these net changes is provided at local authority level within the ‘Change in area’ Accompanying tables.
A timeline showing the breakdown of net change reported in each year (from 2013-14 onwards), reflecting subsequent revisions made to the accuracy of the estimates of Green Belt in each year can be seen in Table 3.
Table 3: National summary of net changes to land designated as Green Belt
| Year | Number of local authorities changing their Green Belt | Net change from local authority designation policies (hectares) | Net change from local authority digital boundary (hectares) | Total net change (hectares) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | 3 | -530 | -5,240 | -5,770 |
| 2014-15 | 11 | -1,890 | 0 | -1,890 |
| 2015-16 | 8 | -1,070 | 40 | -1,030 |
| 2016-17 | 8 | -1,190 | 10 | -1,180 |
| 2017-18 | 10 | -6,090 | -20 | -6,110 |
| 2018-19 | 13 | -3,860 | 0 | -3,860 |
| 2019-20 | 15 | -3,170 | -350 | -3,520 |
| 2020-21 | 11 | -1,760 | 10 | -1,750 |
| 2021-22 | 14 | 24,150 | 0 | 24,150 |
Note: hectarage figures are rounded to the nearest 10 hectares
5. Revisions to 2020-21 estimates
Revisions are made each year to the published estimates for the previous year in order to accurately calculate the net change in Green Belt area. The revised Green Belt in England as at 31 March 2021 is estimated at 1,614,000 hectares. This is no net change to the previous estimate of 1,614,000 hectares published in September 2021, further information is available in the ‘Change in area by LA’ table of the Accompanying tables.
Ten revisions have been reported as part of this year’s release. A summary of the scale of revisions over the preceding statistical releases, is available under the ‘Scale of revisions’ heading in the Technical notes section.
6. Longer-term changes
Statistics on the area of Green Belt are available back to 1997, in the ‘Area since 1997 – England’ table of the Accompanying tables. Figures are, however, available on a consistent basis only from 2006, following the designation of 47,300 hectares of Green Belt land as part of the New Forest National Park in 2005. Those from 31 March 2018 are set out in Table 4, broken down by urban core.
Table 4: Trend in the area of land designated as Green Belt as at 31 March since 2013-14
| Urban core | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGLAND | 1,623,180 | 1,619,320 | 1,615,750 | 1,614,000 | 1,638,150 |
| Bath and Bristol | 71,710 | 71,700 | 71,710 | 71,710 | 71,700 |
| Birmingham | 227,640 | 227,440 | 227,050 | 227,050 | 227,020 |
| Blackpool | 2,590 | 2,520 | 2,510 | 2,510 | 2,510 |
| Burton-upon-Trent and Swadlincote | 730 | 730 | 730 | 730 | 730 |
| Cambridge | 26,150 | 26,100 | 26,100 | 26,100 | 26,100 |
| Carnforth, Lancaster and Morecambe | 1,740 | 1,740 | 1,740 | 1,540 | 1,540 |
| Cheltenham and Gloucester | 6,230 | 6,190 | 6,190 | 6,190 | 6,190 |
| Derby and Nottingham | 60,710 | 60,510 | 59,950 | 59,950 | 59,950 |
| London | 513,050 | 511,310 | 509,110 | 508,120 | 506,210 |
| Merseyside and Greater Manchester | 249,370 | 249,360 | 249,300 | 249,310 | 248,850 |
| Oxford | 34,910 | 34,910 | 34,760 | 34,490 | 34,490 |
| South and West Yorkshire | 249,000 | 247,500 | 247,410 | 247,410 | 247,160 |
| South West Hampshire | 34,840 | 34,780 | 34,810 | 34,680 | 34,680 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 44,440 | 44,450 | 44,450 | 44,420 | 44,420 |
| Tyne and Wear | 72,190 | 72,120 | 71,980 | 71,840 | 98,640 |
| York | 27,870 | 27,970 | 27,970 | 27,970 | 27,970 |
Note: figures are rounded to the nearest 10 hectares
7. Accompanying tables and spatial boundary files
Additional tables, on total area and changes to land designated as Green Belt (annual), are available to download alongside this release. The tables are as follows:
| Table name | Table description |
|---|---|
| Area by LA | Land designated as Green belt - area by local authority as at 31 March 2022 |
| Change in area by LA | Change in Green Belt area between 31 March 2021 and 31 March 2022 |
| Area since 1997 | Area of Green Belt land since 1997, England |
| Area by PCON | Land designated as Green belt - area by parliamentary constituency as at 31 March 2022 |
| Land designations by LA | Land designated as Green Belt and other designations including National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest - area by local authority as at 31 March 2022 |
| Area by LA 2013-14 to | Designated Green Belt land - area by local authority (annually) from 31 March 2014 to 31 March 2022 |
They are available at Green belt statistics.
In addition, spatial data files setting out Green Belt area boundaries are available at data.gov.uk.
8. Uses of the data
The local authority Green Belt spatial boundaries, collected as part of this release are used in the preparation of other statistical releases published by DLUHC. The Land Use Change statistics (LUCs) use the Green Belt boundaries to determine the proportion of new residential addresses created within the Green Belt, and the previous land use those addresses were created on. The Land Use statistics use the Green Belt boundaries to calculate proportions of various land use classes within the Green Belt.
The summary statistics for the Land Use Change statistics and the Land Use statistics within land designated as Green Belt are as follows:
- In 2017-18, 2% of new residential addresses created were within the Green Belt. This is a decrease 1% from the 3% recorded in 2016-17.
- In 2017-18, 53% of new residential addresses created within the Green Belt were built on previously developed land. This is an increase on the 51% recorded in 2016-17.
- In 2018, 7% of land designated as Green Belt in England is of developed use with 93% of land of non-developed use.
- Of the Green Belt land area, 0.3% is of a residential use with residential gardens ac-counting for a further 2.9%.
Detailed statistics on changes within the Green Belt can also be found in the Land Use Change Live Tables, numbers P310, P311 and P380 to P383, accessible from Land use change statistics.
Detailed statistics on land uses within the Green Belt can also be found in the Land Use in England 2018 Live Tables P401a and P401b, accessible from Live tables on land use.
Green Belt statistics are often quoted alongside statistics for other designations. These designations are often considered constraints on development with the statistics providing the amount of land ‘protected’ against development. These other designations do vary but normally include environmentally-protected designations such as National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).
The Green Belt boundaries and statistics are closely aligned with local plans and local planning. The Green Belt boundaries were used to help determine Local Housing Need numbers and feed into a number of other related housing and development related projects.
8.1 Annex A: explanation of changes in 2021-22
Brentwood
The local plan was adopted on 23 March 2022.
The Council has had to make some difficult, but informed decisions around the alteration of the Green Belt boundary, in line with national planning policy. Through the Green Belt review process and alongside the Sustainability Appraisal process, exceptional circumstances were established to release a number of sites to meet housing, employment and Gypsy and Traveller needs, as described in Policy MG01 Spatial Strategy. The Policies Map illustrates the Green Belt boundary as established by this Local Plan, with defensible boundaries around the allocation sites. (p38, para 4.6). Appendix 1 of the Local Plan sets out the Plan’s Housing Trajectory and identifies all housing sites that have been released from the Green Belt (page 255 – 258).
Buckinghamshire
The Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan was adopted on 15 September 2021. An area of 98.6 hectares was added to the Green Belt in the Leighton Linslade area through the adoption of the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan.
Extract from pages 44-45 of the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan:
“3.30 Part 2 of the assessment (published in June 2016) gave further consideration to the areas of land identified in Part 1. They were assessed for the suitability of development, whether there were exceptional circumstances for removing sites from the Green Belt, and whether further land should be designated as Green Belt.
3.31 Following this assessment, there is an area of land to the west of Leighton Linslade that is proposed for inclusion within the Green Belt. This can be justified by the exceptional circumstances of the construction of the A4146 in this area, which opened in September 2007, since the original designation of Green Belt. Amending the boundary will provide a more recognisable and permanent boundary that would be more in line with what the NPPF requires than is used currently. The additional area of Green Belt will help to balancethe loss of Green Belt land in other areas (including land removed from the Green Belt around Leighton Buzzard) and will complete the Green Belt protection on all sides of Leighton Linslade as well as the parcel performing strongly against the purposes of the Green Belt as defined in the NPPF (2012).”
Buckinghamshire’s local development plans
Central Bedfordshire
The local plan was adopted in July 2021.
Local Plan, Section 8.3 - Green Belt Release:
“8.3.1 In order to accommodate the growth required up to 2035 in a sustainable and controlled manner, allocations in Green Belt have been identified and listed in Policy SP1, SE1 and Policy HA1. These are comprised of the North of Luton strategic allocation (c. 3,600 homes), Sundon Rail Freight Interchange (RFI) and a number of small and medium allocations to our inset Green Belt towns and villages (Policy HA1).
8.3.2 These villages are well-placed to make a contribution to meeting wider housing need and, in many cases; development could help to improve the sustainability of the villages. Green Belt release has been guided by the principle of creating ‘sustainable patterns of development’ as per NPPF paragraph 84. This means that we have sought to identify the most sustainable locations for development, having regard to the overall integrity and performance of the wider Green Belt.
8.3.3 Green Belt boundaries will be redrawn around these allocated sites, and other committed sites; Land North of Houghton Regis and Land East of Leighton Buzzard, and that land formally released from Green Belt. The Council is confident that these new boundaries will be capable of enduring beyond the plan period.”
Central Bedfordshire’s local plan
Doncaster
The local plan was adopted on 23 September 2021.
“Policy 1: Settlement Hierarchy is the overarching policy concerning Greenbelt and defaults to the national policy on how deal with it. Further policies within Chapter 16 provide further details about specific changes. These generally relate to nine housing allocations. At the time the local plan was examined, the details/process of changes were covered in the ‘Greenbelt Topic Paper’. Post-adoption this was removed from the web, but the proposed changes covered 55 ha of land being removed from the Green Belt for the Local Plan, which would have been a loss of 0.24% of the Green Belt, and have left the Borough with 23,202 ha of its land within the Green Belt. However, by factoring in 21 ha of new Green Belt land in this location, the overall loss was tempered, giving a net Green Belt loss of 34 ha for this part of the change.
During the examination, changes were also identified to remove from the Green Belt the area of a significant Strategic consented employment development which was substantially built out and a smaller incursion to allow for the expansion of an existing long standing employment location. This resulted in the final measurement quoted.”
Halton
The Halton Delivery and Allocations Local Plan was adopted on 2 March 2022.
“7.24 The Council considers that the proposed 350 dwellings a year, complies with Government requirements, is in line with previous delivery levels in Halton, supports the local economy whilst recognising that a significant proportion of the required housing will have to be provided on land currently within the Green Belt” (page 44).
“7.71 Development proposals for the sites removed from the Green Belt should include compensatory improvements to the environmental quality and accessibility of remaining Green Belt land to offset the impact of the removal of the land from the Green Belt in accordance with paragraph 142 of the National Planning Policy Framework. Compensatory improvements could include new or enhanced green infrastructure, woodland planting, landscape and visual enhancements, improvements to biodiversity, new or enhanced walking or cycling routes and improved access to new, enhanced or existing recreational and playing field provision.” (page 58).
Halton’s Delivery and Allocations Local Plan
Havering
The local plan was adopted on 17 November 2021.
A number of allocated gypsy and traveller sites have been removed from the Green Belt in the Havering Local Plan (Policy 11, pages 41 and 42). They are listed in Annex 6 (pages 116 and 117).
North East Derbyshire
The local plan was adopted on 29 November 2021.
A significant mismatch between the strategy and the proposed spatial distribution of housing, land availability and demand had become evident through early work on the North East Derbyshire Local Plan; such that the level of growth being planned for across the District could not be accommodated in a sustainable way or where demand and viability were highest.
In addition to minor alterations to the Green Belt boundary where land was no longer fulfilling Green Belt purposes, the Local Plan removed four parcels of land from the Green Belt for housing development. The key reasoning for this was based upon the fact that three of the District’s four most sustainable settlements are tightly constrained by the Green Belt and evidence showed that:
- Housing land supply in these areas is limited, which combined with high demand has driven up land values and exacerbated housing affordability issues
- Employment land in these settlements should be retained for employment use
- Existing sports pitches and recreation facilities within these settlements are all required to be retained
- Increasing supply in other areas of the district would not support the strategy of the Plan.
These are set out in pages 53 and 54 of the local plan.
North East Derbyshire’s local plan
North Warwickshire
The local plan was adopted on 29 September 2021.
The North Warwickshire Local Plan indicates revisions to the Green Belt boundaries. The changes are a result of the relocation of existing development, impacted by construction of the new HS2 Rail route, the allocation of some areas for new housing development and the removal of a large area of brownfield/previously developed land (pdl) for Employment Development, following a grant of planning consent on the site area under the provisions of Green Belt pdl exception criteria in NPPF 2021.
North Warwickshire’s local plan
Northumberland
The local plan was adopted on 31 March 2022.
Prior to the adoption of the Northumberland Local Plan, the adopted Green Belt in Northumberland included an area of defined Green Belt, where boundaries had been established and adopted, and an area where a general extent had been identified and adopted but detailed boundaries had not been established. This part of the Green Belt was the remaining undefined area of the Green Belt extension around Morpeth. The area of the extension was not previously included in the authority’s AGB returns and is the main reason for the large increase in the area of Green Belt within the authority’s area, since that reported for 31 March 2021 on the previous AGB return.
The Northumberland Local Plan consolidates the adopted Green Belt boundaries and establishes the detailed boundaries of the Green Belt extension around Morpeth.
The previously established boundaries of the Green Belt have also been changed in some areas for the following reasons:
- Land has been released from the Green Belt in Hexham, Ponteland and Prudhoe for employment purposes.
- Some settlements, previously washed over by the Green Belt, have been inset from the Green Belt to improve coherence in the policy approach to the Green Belt in Northumberland.
- Minor amendments to the Green Belt boundary have been made to address anomalies, enabling boundaries to better align more accurately to physical edges.
The most relevant pages are pages 4 to 7 and pages 13 to 16 within Nothumberland’s Green Belt technical paper (PDF, 2.62MB).
Rossendale
The local plan was adopted on 15 December 2021.
“40. As well as extending the urban boundary into the designated countryside to identify additional new sites, the Green Belt has also had to have been considered. The loss of existing Green Belt land has been minimised but there are exceptional circumstances to justify some Green Belt release on greenfield sites, given the overall imperative to identify sites that can deliver the Borough’s future needs. This applies to new employment sites, which need to be in areas with good access to the strategic road network, which is where businesses want to be.” (page 17)
Runnymede
The Thorpe Neighbourhood Plan was adopted in June 2021.
From paragraphs 3.7 and 3.8:
Policy SD1 of the Runnymede 2030 Local Plan (adopted July 2020) provided the opportunity for the Thorpe Neighbourhood Plan to consider detailed amendments to the Green Belt Inset boundary consistent with NPPF paragraph 136 and having regard to the requirements in paragraph 138 and 139 . Paragraph 138 requires that when reviewing Green Belt boundaries, the need to promote sustainable patterns of development should be taken into account. In addition, it states plans “…should set out ways in which the impact of removing land from the Green Belt can be offset through compensatory improvements to the environmental quality and accessibility of remaining Green Belt land”.
The Green Belt Exceptional Circumstances Note explains how the Plan seeks to respond to the needs of the Thorpe community in the context of National Planning Policy Framework and the Runnymede 2030 Local Plan. It outlines the ‘exceptional circumstances’ which justifies the ‘detailed amendment’ to the Green Belt boundary proposed in Policy TH1 and should be read alongside other supporting evidence.
Green Belt Exceptional Circumstances Note (PDF, 362KB)
Waverley
The Chiddingford Neighbourhood Plan was adopted on 24 August 2021.
Paragraph 4.3 and page 23: “In order to meet the housing target set by the Waverley LPP1 [2018 Waverley Local Plan Part 1] it is necessary to release a small amount of land from the Green Belt within the Parish. This is because the small area of land not in the Green Belt, as set in the Waverley LPP1, is essentially completely full of built development already, save for gardens and a few precious green spaces that should not be developed.”
Chiddingfold’s Neighbourhood Plan
Chiddingfold’s Neighbourhood Plan final decision statement
Windsor and Maidenhead
The local plan was adopted on 8 February 2022.
Page 62, paragraph 6.18.21: “National planning policy requires that Green Belt boundaries are only amended in exceptional circumstances and that this must be undertaken as part of the Local Plan process. We consider that exceptional circumstances exist to justify a small amendment of Green Belt boundaries in order to facilitate the growth that is needed in the Borough and promote sustainable patterns of development. Whilst the general extent of the Green Belt has been retained, a very small amount of land will be removed during the plan period in order to enable development around the Maidenhead urban area, and the edges of selected villages. Whilst the general extent of the Green Belt has been retained, a very small amount of land has been removed in order to enable development around the Maidenhead urban area, and the edges of selected villages. The amount of Green Belt in the Royal Borough remains well over 81%. Details of the specific areas released from the Green Belt, and their resulting new designations, are set out in Appendix A.”
Windsor and Maidenhead’s local plan
Woking
The Woking Site Allocations Development Plan Document was adopted in October 2021 to meet the housing requirement of the core strategy.
Page 203, paragraph 9.7: “Sufficient Green Belt land has been allocated by this Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD) to meet the housing requirement of the Core Strategy.”
9. Technical notes
Please see the accompanying technical notes document for further details.
10. Enquiries
Date of next release: September/October 2023
Media enquiries: 0303 444 1209 / email: newsdesk@levellingup.gov.uk
Public enquiries and responsible statistician: Alex Reynolds
Email: planning.statistics@levellingup.gov.uk
Information on Official Statistics is available via the UK Statistics Authority website.
Information about statistics at DLUHC is available via the department’s website.
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