§ Mr. Cormackasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will take steps to revise the green belt policy so that more attention is paid to differentiating between good agricultural land or areas of outstanding beauty and derelict land such as worked-out opencast sites unsuitable for agricultural or 266W scenic reclamation but capable of development as building land.
§ Mr. Graham PageNo. Green belts are designed, amongst other things, to prevent the outward sprawl of large built-up areas or the coalescence of neighbouring towns by the stringent control over development. They do not necessarily indicate the present state of the land. So although some land in approved green belts may be derelict or even unsightly it does not follow that it should therefore be released for development.