Country Land and Business Association and Bath Preservation Trust to give evidence to Lords Grey Belt inquiry

At 10.45am on Tuesday, 19 November 2024, the House of Lords Built Environment Committee, as part of its inquiry on the Grey Belt, will hear evidence from:

• Alex Sherman, CEO, Bath Preservation Trust
• Avril Roberts, Senior Housing Advisor, Country Land and Business Association.

This evidence session is open to the public. It will be held in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords and streamed live on Parliament TV.   

Questions are likely to cover:

• How much land might be considered grey belt land and how this land is currently used
• The types of land likely to be identified under the grey belt proposals and how these differ from the existing regime
• Whether the proposals give local planning authorities sufficient power to balance housing need against the other needs of their communities
• The extent to which the specific location of a grey belt development affects what is required for that site to be sustainable
• Whether existing transport infrastructure is flexible enough to accommodate the additional demands from grey belt developments
• The viability of the 50 per cent affordable housing target for grey belt land

More on this inquiry
 
The new Government has set itself a target of building 1.5 million homes over the next five years. However, developers have warned that building only on brownfield sites will not be sufficient to meet this target. As a result, the Government has proposed revising the National Planning Policy Framework and has conducted a consultation on its proposals for releasing Green Belt land. A key element of its proposals is the creation of a new designation of “Grey Belt” land.
 
This short inquiry aims to gain a better understanding of what will constitute Grey Belt land, how this new designation might contribute to meeting the Government’s housing targets, and what sustainable development within the Grey Belt might look like. 

During the inquiry, the Committee will consider the Government’s proposed ‘golden rules’ for ensuring that development on Green Belt land released under these processes benefits the public. These include the inclusion of affordable housing, infrastructure, and enhanced green space in any such development. The committee will also assess the likely impact of these golden rules on the likelihood of successful development in the Grey Belt.