§ Mr. GreenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if it is Government policy to allow(a) development on green belt land and (b) a review of the green belt in certain circumstances. [158658]
§ Ms Beverley HughesPlanning Policy Guidance Note 2—"Green Belts" states a presumption against most built development on land designated as green belt. It allows review of established green belts and the alteration of boundaries in exceptional circumstances. If such an alteration were proposed, the Secretary of State would then wish to be satisfied that the authority has considered opportunities for development within urban areas before allowing it to take place.
§ Mr. GreenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish figures for (1)(a) the number of hectares of green belt land in each region and (b) the proportion of land that is green belt in each region of the United Kingdom; [158703]
(2) (a) the number of hectares of green belt land in each council in England and (b) the proportion of land that is green belt in each council of the United Kingdom. [158702]
§ Ms Beverley HughesInformation based on digital (computerised) green belt boundaries in England has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
§ Mr. GreenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) how many hectares of non-green belt greenfield land have been(a) developed on and (b) given planning permission for development, since 1 May 1997; [158704]
(2) how many hectares of green belt land have (a) been developed and (b) given planning permission for development, since 1 May 1997. [158705]
§ Ms Beverley HughesThe information requested on planning permissions within and outside green belts is not available centrally. The Department's land use change statistics provide estimates of the annual aggregate change to residential use within and outside green belts in England. In 1998, the latest year for which figures are available and during which the last Government's policy guidance on housing was still operational, 2,650 hectares of 'not previously developed' land outside green belts changed to residential use. Over the same period, 140 hectares of land within green belts changed to residential use, about 0.01 per cent. of the total area of green belts.
§ Mr. GreenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps have been taken since May 1997 to allow open green spaces of land in built-up areas to be designated as green belt. [158664]
§ Ms Beverley HughesDesignation of land as green belt is a matter for local planning authorities having regard to the advice in Planning Policy Guidance Note 2—Green Belts. Advice on designation of land as green belt has not changed since the publication of the January 1995 edition of PPG2.
76WThe Government have recently issued for consultation a revision of PPG17—Sport, Open Space and Recreation, which emphasises the need to safeguard existing urban open spaces and to supplement provision where appropriate.