§ Mr. WolfsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department's advice to local authorities on the provision of low cost housing in rural areas is related to such areas located within the green belt.
§ Mr. Howard[holding answer 25 May 1989]: My February statement on 3 February at column 433 did not alter the general presumption against inappropriate development in the green belts. Green belt policy remains as stated in planning policy guidance note 2.
Most green belt areas are by their nature close to the main conurbations, and conditions are not typical of the generality of rural areas to which the statement was addressed. Special considerations may, however, arise in some of the more extensive areas of green belt away from the urban fringe, particularly in areas where there are many small settlements and it may not be practicable or appropriate to define green belt boundaries around each one.
In some of these areas local planning policies already recognise that very limited development within existing settlements may be acceptable and consistent with the function of the green belt. It is for local planning authorities to judge whether low-cost housing development for local community needs would fall within the scope of such policies.
The release, exceptionally, for small-scale, low-cost housing schemes of other sites, within existing settlements which would not normally be considered for development under such policies would again be a matter for the judgment of the planning authority, having regard to all material considerations, including the objectives of green belt policy and the evidence of local need. As I made clear in my previous statement, where sites are released for low cost housing as an exception to normal policies of restraint, it will be essential for the planning authority to satisfy itself as to the adequacy of arrangements to reserve the housing in question for local needs, both initially and on subsequent change of occupant.