New homes will use Green Belt 'equal to West Midlands'
Local councils are on course to build houses on an area of Green Belt land bigger than Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton combined, countryside campaigners warn in research published today.
A study of local authorities' long-term Structure Plans by the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) shows that nearly three million more homes are needed in England and suggests that councils' willingness to allocate precious green land instead of brownfield sites will remove tracts of countryside from counties such as Kent, Devon and Lancashire.
The study suggests that more than 431 sq km (166 sq miles) are earmarked for development, though the final area of countryside consumed could be greater. The CPRE's calculation of the land needed is based on achieving 25 homes per hectare, though some developers manage fewer than 20.
Inevitably, the green land hardest hit will be in the Southeast, where up to a third of the new homes are needed. Surrey needs at least 2,300 homes a year and Essex more than 5,000. Hampshire must build 80,290 homes by 2011 and identify land for another 14,000.
By Ian Herbert of The Independent - 22.01.2003