To receive questions or statements from the public.
Minutes:
Katharine Paulson asked the Lead Councillor for Climate Change, Councillor Jan Harwood, the following question:
“In light of the recent Local Authority Green Belt: England 2019-20*, stats published on 20 September 2020, where Guildford Borough Council gets a special mention as accounting for 46 % of the changes to the greenbelt across the country and causing a 6 % loss of the country’s greenbelt, a figure that does not even take into account reallocations where timely planning enforcement action has not taken to protect unlawful sites from CLUEDs, could the Lead Councillor please confirm at what point will GBC and their planning department decide that green belt and agricultural land is a finite resource? The boroughs adjacent to London have a duty to keep this green space, to increase biodiversity, carbon sequestration, for production of food, and for the benefit of the future generations. Once this land is gone, it is gone forever, do the councillors really want to leave this legacy for future generations?”
*Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-commits-to-protect-30-of-uk-land-in-boost-for-biodiversity
The Lead Councillor’s response was as follows:
“Guildford Borough is fortunate to be one of the greenest boroughs in the UK and as a council we are committed to protecting the biodiversity. The figures published are somewhat misleading in the absence of context. Firstly, 5.5% of the total greenbelt designation within our Borough (not the entire country, also the 6% figure is a rounding) was revoked. This has to be taken in the context that Guildford Borough was 89% greenbelt designated before the adoption of the Local Plan and is now 83.5%. To help understand the scale of this – it represents a loss of 0.09% of the country’s greenbelt. Additionally, of the total, 4% was the insetting of villages previously washed over by the greenbelt policy which was spatially defined in Guildford in the 1987 Local Plan. The only other amendment that has been made to the greenbelt since it was defined in 1987 was the removal of Manor Park at the University of Surrey in the Local Plan 2003 – this removed 63.3ha (or 0.004% of the country’s total greenbelt). This adjustment for insetting was made as those built up areas were not considered to contribute to the openness of the greenbelt and therefore no longer met the requirement for inclusion in the greenbelt as set out by national policy. This 4% was not earmarked for specific development and is subject to the same policies as other urban areas such as extensions and rebuilding. The remaining 1.5% of previous greenbelt land makes up a significant part of the housing supplyin the now adopted Local Plan.
In other words, whilst the headline figures and accompanying pie charts may garner attention, the real takeaway from the published figures is a stark indication of just how few Boroughs are able to adopt local plans in a given year. The change (-6%) is still proportionally less than that experienced at a number of other authorities (e.g. Stevenage at -31%; Nuneaton and Bedworth at -10%). Fortunately for Guildford, having a sound Local Plan protects us from precisely the type of development that would endanger the biodiversity and openness we have the privilege of enjoying.
Additionally, I would argue that all Boroughs within the UK have the same duties regardless of proximity to London. We are not and will not be the breadbasket for the capital. Neither will we be the excuse or mitigation for poor development elsewhere.
Finally, I would like to remind everyone that the Greenbelt is absolutely not a finite environmental resource. It is simply a policy designation not an environmental designation. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest are protected for their environmental quality. Designation of greenbelt can both be made and taken away. The focus should be on the protection and enhancement of our environment precisely for the reason Mrs Paulson states: for the benefit of future generations”.
Councillor Jan Harwood
Lead Councillor for Climate Change