How Much Of Havering’s Greenbelt Will Be Bulldozed Under The New Planning Bill? Are More And More Flats This Way?

How much of Havering’s greenbelt will be bulldozed in a bid to build more and more flats? The Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill threatens to dramatically weaken protections for green and blue spaces across England – including Havering.

The bill aims to hand developers faster planning permission and allows them to site homes on greenbelt and community land, provided they pay into a so-called “nature restoration fund.” That means ancient woodlands, wetlands, river corridors, wildlife-rich farmland and valued open spaces could be cleared – with any replacement nature built miles away under no guarantee of quality or accessibility. How can putting money into a pot replace a tree that is hundreds of years old and has provided a home to so much wildlife and also provided much needed cleaner air for us.

Nature groups and legal watchdogs have raised red flags. The Office for Environmental Protection has labelled the bill a regression in environmental protection; Wild Justice, the RSPB and Wildlife Trusts warn it amounts to a developer’s charter to trash nature- cash to trash nature.

The bill also proposes an amendment to brand many areas as “grey belt” – meaning land once protected will be up for reclassification unless it passes a review proving its environmental or ecological significance. This puts much of Havering’s open farmland, woodland patches and green corridors in the firing line.

Charities argue that fewer than 3% of planning appeals cited wildlife issues like bats or newts anyway, so the bill’s premise that nature protections block construction is deeply flawed. Worse still, local offsets don’t have to be nearby – they could be in another county far removed from where the development took place, meaning community green space could be lost forever.

Additional government proposals would remove statutory wildlife consultees from the earliest stages of major projects, eliminating key expert input that might flag ecological risks before development begins.

The Planning Bill promised a “win‑win” for housing and nature recovery, but critics say it’s become one-sided: fast‑tracking building at the expense of biodiversity. Without urgent amendments, even species-rich havens like ancient woodlands, chalk streams, wetlands and rural Havering farmland are at serious risk.

So what does this mean for Havering? It sits squarely within Greater London’s greenbelt. If the Bill becomes law in its current form, vast tracts of land that residents value for recreation, wildlife and climate resilience could be sold off. The protections that currently keep development in check could be replaced with vague promises of restoration – often nowhere near the impact zone.

Residents deeply value these spaces for physical and mental wellbeing, community cohesion, wildlife habitat and flood prevention – yet the Bill creates no legal guarantee of replacement nature being equal or local. Campaigners predict “cash‑to‑trash” nature and the disappearance of wild havens in pursuit of housing quotas.

Unless amendments requiring developers to protect and restore local green spaces (and truly offset any damage on-site) are adopted, Havering faces a future where wild walks vanish and community greens become relics of the past.

Is our greenbelt safe under this Bill? Not unless rural and urban communities unite—and demand stronger safeguards before it’s too late.

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