An analysis of the Government data by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) [Alliance member] shows that since 2012 almost 10,000 hectares of Green Belt land have been released from ‘protected’ Green Belt boundaries by local councils. Ten councils have together released more than 5,000 hectares in the past year alone.
CPRE claim that a combination of unrealistic housing targets set by the Government, capacity of the housebuilding industry and slow build out rates on land already granted planning permission has created a perfect storm that has resulted in this consistent erosion of the Green Belt.