Government eroding greenbelts, say Conservatives

Tuesday, 2 August 2005 12:00 AM

The Conservatives attacked the government today for endangering greenbelt land designed to prevent urban sprawl.

They highlighted several areas of government policy that they claim have resulted in 2,500 acres of greenbelt land being concreted over each year under Labour.

Shadow local government secretary Caroline Spelman said John Prescott's policies were destroying greenbelts and creating "a concrete scar across the face of rural England".

But a spokesman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) said the amount of greenbelt land had actually increased under Labour.

Several areas of government policy have been singled out for criticism by the Tories, including changes to planning laws designed to increase the housing stock of the country.

The Tories also claim national planning rules have been changed to downgrade the status of greenbelts, and the deputy prime minister has allowed a total of 162 planning applications on greenfield sites.

Regional assemblies are also deleting greenbelt designation, the Conservatives say.

"Mr Prescott gave a guarantee that the greenbelt would be protected under his tenure," Ms Spelman said. "In fact, under his watch, greenbelt protection has been erased on a whim by unelected regional bureaucrats and consistently sidelined by weaker planning rules."

She said the "abuse" of greenbelt land was "unpopular and unsustainable" and called for an urgent review of the environmental impact of the government's housing policies.

But the spokesman for the OPDM insisted the government was "committed to maintaining and increasing the greenbelt in all regions".

There had been no relaxation of planning laws, he said, and a new draft greenbelt direction announced last month would strengthen planning controls.

However, the spokesman insisted it was important to provide extra housing in London and the south-east - otherwise there would be "serious economic and social consequences" and key workers would not be able to live near where they work.

The move by the Tories, which comes on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the creation of greenbelts, follows a similar complaint in May by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

The CPRE said that greenbelt policy faced a "major onslaught" from government initiatives and greenbelt boundary reviews.

In July the government launched measures designed to make planning more responsive to housing demand. They also claimed greenbelt protection had been increased.

Greenbelts were formally introduced by 1955 by a Conservative government designed to restrict the sprawl of built-up areas. About 13 per cent of all land in England is classed as greenbelt.

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