Planning Policy & Star Wars Woodland

National news

Planning | The government has announced an overhaul of the planning system, via an update of the National Planning Policy Framework, in an attempt to meet its target of building 1.5m new homes during this Parliament. Of particular significance to the natural world is a new ‘common sense’ approach to greenbelt land. ‘While remaining committed to a brownfield first approach, the updated NPPF will require councils to review their greenbelt boundaries to meet targets, identifying and prioritising lower quality “grey belt” land,’ the government said. The Times released a tool for readers to see how many of these ‘grey belt’ areas sat within 10 miles of their postcode, while acknowledging that the definition of such land remains subjective. Toby Perkins MP, chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, expressed some hesitation over the plans. ‘I welcome the improved environmental safeguards since the original document, but will continue to urge the utmost caution for concreting over any areas which provide valuable ecosystem services, whether they are designated as brownfield sites or grey belt land,’ he said. Environmental charities, including CPRE and Wildlife and Countryside Link, also expressed a note of caution about the update.