Havering Residents Association Share Residents Fears Over The Loss Of The Green Belt.

Deputy Leader of Havering Council-Councillor Gillian Ford today writes in the Havering Daily:

Government changes to building on the greenbelt is overriding the local democratic process. Yesterday, the government announced a short list of seven new towns: Enfield, Greater Manchester, Greenwich, Bedfordshire, South Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire and West Yorkshire. Each town is expected to deliver the minimum of 10,000 homes, with some rising to 40,000 over the years. This aligns with the governments push to deliver 1.5m homes.

We have seen the governments introduction of ‘grey belt’ with the threshold of being land that does not strongly contribute to Green Belt purposes. This will place huge pressure on some of Havering’s green belt sites. 

Alongside this in the move to green energy the need for battery storage as solar and wind power require storage, contributing to further pressures on the green belt. 

The government has also changed the status of Data Centres, announcing them as ‘national infrastructure’. 

Deputy Leader Councillor Gillian Ford spoke at the Green Forum Hustings earlier this week, outlining the pressures Councils are facing with certain developments on the green belt.

Councillor Ford said “The green belt is Havering’s jewel in the crown, and we are known for our green and open spaces. That places the borough at risk of being a target for development. The current regulations around Very Special Circumstances has worked for many years but we have seen some changes in legislation, technological demands and energy shifts that threaten the green belt. 

The HRA have been protecting sites we have the power to control, securing 14 Village Greens and will continue to do so. However, there are challenges for all parties in protecting green belt land when the world is changing with new needs demands and pressures. The HRA will continue to challenge and lobby against development we see as inappropriate, and where development cannot be stopped, we will ensure residents voices are heard and appropriate mitigations are incorporated.”

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