Green Belt land reduced by 130 hectares in the past year, statistics reveal

The DCLG said in the report (7-page / 130KB PDF) that the decrease is due to three local authorities, Chelmsford, Hyndburn and Thurrock, adopting plans resulting in a decrease in their green belt land. It said that the main reason the authorities have given for the loss of green belt was release of employment land.

The DCLG said that "real changes" are rare and are the results of new local plans being adopted, which must satisfy the "strong tests" for protecting green belt land set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Figures in the report showed that the extent of designated green belt land in England in 2011/12 was estimated at 1,639,410 hectares. This represents about 13% of the land area of England. Around 9% of land in England is developed, with more than a third being protected from development through being part of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a National Park or part of the green belt.

The report said that there has been an overall increase in green belt land since 1997 when the Government first started to compile green belt statistics. It said that this took account of the re-designation of some green belt land as part of the New Forest National Park in 2005, however, it attributed some of the increase to "improved measurements" rather than actual changes.

The statistics follow comments made by Planning Minister Nick Boles on BBC's Newsnight last week that an increase in development to cover around 12% of land in England would address the housing shortage. Boles said that new development would not be on green belt land but that open land will be targeted.