International Environmental Congress
HaKfar HaYarok
The Green Belt
What is a green belt?
Green belts are usually an element of national planning policy, expressed through County structure plans. However, there are various different measures and schemes which have been referred to as 'Green Belt', and not all of them are the same. The principle is that a certain area around a metropolis has certain controls against development in place. Green Belt boundaries - which are precise - are laid out in local plans. A local plan is a document produced by the planning authority (for example, a district or borough council in England) to provide a policy for planning decisions. Land included in the Green Belt must contribute to one or more of the five purposes of the Green Belt set out in Planning Policy Guidance:
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To check the unrestricted sprawl of built-up areas
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To safeguard the surrounding countryside from further encroachment.
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To prevent neighboring towns from merging into one another.
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To preserve the special character of historic towns.
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To assist in urban regeneration
You will notice that no explicit mention is made of nature conservation. The term 'Green' in this case does not have that meaning, although it is often wrongly thought to do so. Green Belts were so called long before the word 'green' gained the wider use it has today. There are also states in which Green Belt boundaries should be drawn so that they endure, and will not need to be altered at the end of the plan period. This normally means that land is excluded from the green belt when it is not necessary to keep it permanently open, even if there is no known intention or need to develop the land in the future. Local planners recommend that readily identifiable boundaries should be used whenever possible, such as roads, hedges, streams or belts of trees.
In some cases the area designated is not a circular 'belt' as the name implies, but another shape, such as Green Wedges - axes of protected land which extend into the city, or even 'Green Lungs' - green areas entirely surrounded by developed land. Green belts have been criticized for causing a 'leap-frogging' effect, where development takes place in rural countryside outside of the belt, rather than in the more heavily protected suburban greenbelt areas.