Is the green belt doomed? One of the great creations of postwar British planning – the concept of a national park within reach of every city-dweller – is fast losing friends. Under siege from centralist housing targets, argued between Tories and their lobbyists, it has now been undermined by Labour’s Keir Starmer. He wants to leave decisions on building in London’s green belt to local councils. Leaving councillors to decide on the nod if a particular meadow should be worth £1,000 or £1m is not a good idea.
Green belts were invented to protect adjacent countryside from the sprawl of interwar suburbs, after the ambitions of Octavia Hill and other champions of public health. They were the envy of Europe. They embodied the idea of the role of nature in the civilised city half a century before the green revolution. As a result, they cover about 12% of England, and 22% of Greater London, of which half is open access.
