Green Belt (Protection) Bill

A

BILL

TO

Establish a national register of green belt land in England; to restrict the ability of local authorities to de-designate green belt land; to make provision about future development of de-designated green belt land; and for connected purposes.

BE IT ENACTED by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

Schedule 1 - National register of green belt land

(1) The Secretary of State must hold and publish a public register of all land in England designated as Green Belt land on 1 September 2024.

(2) That public register shall be updated to reflect changes to the designation of land—

(a) any land de-designated as Green Belt land after 1 September 2024 shall be identified as Former Green Belt land, and

(b) any land designated as Green Belt land after 1 September 2024 shall be identified as New Green Belt land.

(3) Any changes to the designation of land under subsection (2) shall be reflected in the public register within two months of the change being made.

Schedule 2 - De-designation of green belt land

(1) No local authority in England shall de-designate any land which is designated as Green Belt land on 1 September 2024 unless—

(a) it has ensured that alternative land within its local authority area has been designated as Green Belt land in substitution for the land to be designated,

(b) the substituted land satisfies the criteria set out in subsection (2),

(c) the land is not New Green Belt land within the meaning of section 1(2)(b).

(2) The criteria which substituted land must satisfy are that the land—

(a) is the same or greater in area than that which is to be de-designated,

(b) abuts land on which—

(i) housing has been developed, and

(ii) the density of such housing is above average relative to the land within the local authority area as a whole, and

(c) satisfies any requirements of Green Belt land issued in a National Planning Policy Framework by the Secretary of State.

(3) No local planning authority shall grant permission for development on Former Green Belt land if such development is for housing at a greater density than any housing adjoining or contiguous to it.

(4) Any designated land that is built upon without de-designation is to be returned to the state it was in prior to the construction of any buildings, at a cost to developer.

Schedule 3 – Interpretation

In this Act “Green Belt land” means—

(a) any land within the meaning of Green Belt land given by section 2(1) of the Green Belt (London and Home Counties) Act 1938, and

(b) any other land defined as Green Belt land in order to prevent or restrict development on that land by keeping it permanently open.

Schedule 4 - Extent, commencement and short title

(1) This Act extends to England and Wales only.

(2) This Act comes into force two months after Royal Assent.

(3) This Act may be cited as the Green Belt (Protection) Act.

This Bill was introduced by The Rt Hon Marquess of Stevenage, Sir u/Muffin5136, KT KP KD KCT KCMG KCVO KBE MP MS MLA PC on behalf of the Green Party

It is based upon the Green Belt (Protection) Bill by u/Sephronar

Opening Speech:

One of greatest scourges in the modern age is the increasing urban sprawl we are seeing across Britain, as cities and towns expand into our green belts. Land which should be protected and recognised as such, to ensure we do not just build grey lifeless buildings across all corners of our land.

This bill which was previously shot down by the anti-green coalition strives to ensure that land is properly recognised as Green Belt is kept as a register by local authorities, with stringent limits put in place to tackle illegal building on Green Belt land.

I urge the House to recognise that we can build responsible housing across the UK to deal with our needs, without tearing up fields and forest to do so.

This reading will end at 10pm on the 24th January