We have again written to each of our Hertfordshire MPs

We have written to each of our Hertfordshire MPs, highlighting the alarming findings in a recent report published by the London Green Belt Council.

Their August 2022 report Safe Under Us? The Continued Shrinking of London’s Local Countryside shows that Councils in outer London and the Home Counties are planning to allow developers to build on over 17,000 hectares of designated Green Belt countryside, with Hertfordshire set to bear the brunt of this loss. CPRE Hertfordshire is a member of the London Green Belt Council and our team contributed to the development of this report.

Our letter is reprinted here

Dear < MP name >

We realise that this is a very busy time, but we would like to share with you as a matter of urgency the key findings from the recently published report by the London Green Belt Council on threats to the London Metropolitan Green Belt. A copy of the full report is attached.

The report makes sobering reading and highlights that in spite of numerous public statements from the Government committing to protect the Green Belt from development, Councils in Outer London and the Home Counties are planning to allow developers to build on over 17,000 hectares of designated Green Belt countryside and open spaces.

The scale of development planned for the Green Belt has doubled in just six years. This is despite the vital role that open countryside plays in helping to ensure our food security, mitigate climate change, prevent flooding, enhance biodiversity and provide for the health and well-being of local communities.

Hertfordshire is bearing the brunt

The data in the report (page 14) shows that Hertfordshire, with its exceptionally high proportion of designated protected land (the Green Belt and the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) will bear the brunt of this loss. Over the next 15 years local authorities in Hertfordshire plan to allocate land for circa 121,000 new houses of which over 63,000 will be on Green Belt, resulting in the loss of 4,100 hectares of Green Belt. This is in addition to the 1,465 hectares of Green Belt that has already been removed in recently adopted Local Plans. (Note 1)

The research also highlights

• Local authorities continue to use out of date 2014 projections for household growth which inflate the need for housing. The latest data from the 2021 Census shows a reduction in household growth in Hertfordshire. (Note 2)
• HM Planning Inspectors insisting on the release of Green Belt sites for development to hit unrealistic housing targets, despite the National Planning Policy Framework affording protection to the Green Belt and other designated areas.
• HM Planning Inspectors allowing appeals against local Councils’ decisions to refuse applications by developers due to the lack of a five-year housing supply or an adopted Local Plan.
• That the region’s housing needs could be met by building mainly on brownfield and (previously developed) urban sites and implementing existing consents.
• Building in the Green Belt will not provide affordable homes for first time buyers. (Note 3)

The report is based on data from current Local Plan consultations and those nearing adoption and it excludes proposals for speculative development put forward by housebuilders for over 3,000 additional homes on our Green Belt. These proposals are seeking to take advantage of the lack of a recently adopted Local Plan to gain building permissions by appeal, further undermining the local democratic process

In Hertfordshire, the future of our countryside is once again at a critical juncture, and we simply cannot sustain the high levels of growth that the Government “one size fits all” housing targets impose on local authorities.

Across Hertfordshire’s ten local authorities:

• three Local Plans are presently paused over Green Belt issues following Regulation 18 public consultations (Dacorum, Hertsmere and Three Rivers);
• two further, well-advanced Local Plans have been held up in long running Examinations in Public over Green Belt issues (North Herts and Welwyn Hatfield);
• one other Local Plan is still in the early stages of preparation (St Albans City & District);
• three Local Plans have been recently adopted with the consequent loss of 1,660 hectares of Green Belt to development (Broxbourne, East Hertfordshire and Stevenage).

Recommended measures

We would like to request your support in seeking a meeting with the Minister for Housing to explore how to deal with the specific conditions in Hertfordshire. We believe that there are short-term measures that could be taken that will demonstrate the new Prime Minister’s campaign promises to protect the Green Belt.

These include:

–         issuing technical guidance to Local Planning Authorities that reinforces the protection of the Green Belt and designated protected areas.

–         removing centrally formulated housing targets and allowing Local Authorities to set their own housing targets based on available sites.

–         issuing guidance to ensure that Local Planning Authorities use the most recent ONS data for forecasting population and household numbers.

–         issuing guidance to the Planning Inspectors not to override Local Authority decisions.

We would be happy to meet with you at your convenience to discuss this matter further.

Thank you for your time and please let me know if you have any questions.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Varco

Chief Executive

Note 1: According to Government data this figure is actually 1,660 hectares.  This is the sum of the Green Belt land removed via recently adopted Local Plans in Broxbourne (490 hectares, Jun 2020), East Hertfordshire (1,090 hectares, Oct 2018), and Stevenage (80 hectares, May 2019).

Note 2: Recent research by CPRE Hertfordshire confirms that using the latest ONS data vs. the 2014 ONS projections would result in 30,000 less houses being planned.

Note 3: Research by CPRE Hertfordshire using data from the Land Registry shows that the average price of houses in Hertfordshire are £425,000 while average salaries are £30,000.