Issue - meetings

The Council instructed external consultants to prepare a Green Belt Study, which assesses the performance of our Green Belt against the five purposes set out in national planning policy.  The Study will form part of our Local Plan’s technical evidence base and will inform the preparation of new policy.

The Committee is asked to consider the Green Belt Study and agree to its publication and acknowledge that the study’s outputs inform the partial review of the Core Strategy.

The Committee considered the Green Belt Study and agreed:

(1)            To its publication, subject to the correction of a minor typographical error.

(2)            Noted that the green belt identified four sites which are not part of the designated green belt but have been assessed as performing strongly against at least one of the purposes of the green belt.

(3)            Agreed that the Green Belt Study outputs, including those relating to sites not currently designated as being within the green belt, be used to inform the partial review of the Core Strategy.

The Committee were informed of the importance that the Government attaches to the Green Belt and the opportunities provided by a review of a local plan to consider Green Belt boundaries and their relevance beyond the plan period.  Subsequently, external consultants were appointed to prepare a study that assessed the performance of the Borough’s Green Belt against the relevant purposes set out in national planning policy.  The Committee noted that the study was a technical evidence base document the outputs of which would be used to inform the partial review of the Core Strategy.  Any recommendations arising from the review would be detailed in the Issues and Options Consultation paper scheduled to come before the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee in September 2017.

Officers were pleased to conclude that the Study revealed that on the whole the Borough’s designated Green Belt areas performs well against the criteria.  In addition four discrete parcels of land not within the Green Belt designation had been assessed against the purposes of the Green Belt and all four had performed highly against at least one of the purposes.

The Committee were informed that further suggestions for sites to be assessed against the purposes of Green Belt should be forwarded to the Planning Policy team.

Members expressed their thanks to officers for their hard work and diligence in preparing an excellent report on a subject of great importance to the Borough’s residents.

Accordingly the Committee considered the Green Belt Study and agreed:

(1)            To its publication, subject to the correction of a minor typographical error.

(2)            Noted that the green belt identified four sites which are not part of the designated green belt but have been assessed as performing strongly against at least one of the purposes of the green belt.

(3)            Agreed that the Green Belt Study outputs, including those relating to sites not currently designated as being within the green belt, be used to inform the partial review of the Core Strategy.