Green Belt & Housing - The Competing Issues

Introduction

The ongoing housing crisis has meant that once again developers are considering whether any housing can be placed on the Green Belt, and there is a tension between this and the long-standing policy aspirations to protect the Green Belt.

Planners and Councils are often caught between these two competing issues. There have been a number of recent appeal decisions which highlight how PINS are dealing with the issue, and which provide an insight into how these types of cases should be approached.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• Recap of Green Belt purposes and designations
• How the 2015 Written Ministerial Statement applies and continues to be applied in practice
• The NPPF approach to the Green Belt, including plan-making and the purposes of the Green Belt
• New wording arising from the December 2023 and how this might impact applications going forward
• How the Courts have interpreted whether development is inappropriate and how the ‘very special circumstances’ test should be approached
• An analysis of recent appeal decisions both allowing and dismissing proposed Green Belt developments - how are PINS dealing with this?
• How things may change following the next General Election

This webinar was recorded on 29th February 2024