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Departmental response to the Daily Telegraph story on the green belt

The Department responds to an article in the Daily Telegraph suggesting that the Green Belt will have ‘no protection’ under the National Planning…

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The Department responds to an article in the Daily Telegraph suggesting that the Green Belt will have ‘no protection’ under the National Planning Policy Framework.

A spokesman said:

The Coalition Government stated its commitment to maintaining national Green Belt protection in its first weeks in the Coalition Agreement. The Green Belt has a valuable role in stopping urban sprawl and providing a green lung around towns and cities and this policy is continued in the new draft national planning policy framework.  
“In addition the proposed abolition of the unpopular Regional Strategies, through the Localism Bill, will remove top-down pressure on councils to review the extent of their Green Belt which was likely to effect more than thirty areas across England. Our new draft planning policy on traveller sites explicitly increases protection for the Green Belt and open countryside.”

Published 14 September 2011