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A New Realism on the Green Belt?  Yeah, maybe.

When Jacob Rees Mogg MP attacks the green belt as a ‘corset’ that restricts the housing market, and that by loosening this garment, the market could ‘breathe by at least 25%’, one can either react in fury at the latest Rees-Mogg outburst, or sit up and think:  Oh, that’s not what I expected to hear from a Conservative MP with lots of green belt in his own constituency.

Jacob went on:  ‘I think the biggest challenge facing us at the moment is housing’, which is also rather interesting given his interest in Brexit.

So the big question is why the new stance?  Why has Jacob Rees-Mogg seen the light, and will this rub off on other more nimby-ish Conservative MPs.

A very senior Conservative Minister in the housing department told us earlier this year that the election last year was a turning point:  “Before the election, I was hearing in the Commons tea rooms the need to stop housing to pacify constituents.  After the election, all I was hearing was that electoral success lies in allowing more housing.”

The Government announced plans to build 300,000 new homes a year, never achieved since the 1960s; with the new housing secretary, James Brokenshire, announcing the new garden communities programme in August, with projects ranging in size from 10,000 to 40,000 homes.

Just 2.27% of England is actually built on and a mere 10.6% of England is classified as urban. And that tenth isn’t all concrete: it includes parks, golf courses, gardens, canals, reservoirs and so on.

The LSE claim that if we let London expand by one mile into the scrubby green belt within the M25, we could add a million new homes. That might upset a few people in the Surrey and Sussex commuter-belt.

MPs, in some instances, are becoming more open to the idea of redefining the Green Belt to let themselves meet their targets. A report from the Campaign to Protect Rural England in August showed plans for almost 460,000 homes have been pencilled in for green belt land since 2013.

Does this new realism rub off onto local councillors?  That’s debatable.  Cherwell District Council approved 4,000 green belt homes, earlier this year, despite 1,500 objections. Cllr Colin Clarke, their lead member for planning, said: “I do appreciate the fact that the objectors had some major concerns, but at the end of the day I think the right decision was made and had to be made”. But the majority of councils are far more protective, particularly in their own backyard. Cllr Colin Smith, the leader of Bromley, reiterates that the Green Belt is something his council is “totally committed to defending”.

At Thorncliffe, we’re happy to help identify YIMBYs – the people who say “Yes, In My Back Yard”.  And we’re happy to help you identify those MPs who feel likewise, and perhaps persuade certain councillors that the need for housing trounces the need for green belt protection at all costs.

Get in touch.

Reader Interactions

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What people say about us…

Smooth operation

Many thanks for last night: a very smooth operation!

Message was very welcome

Was a great result – especially to receive unanimous approval! Many thanks also for you and your team’s work in the run up to the committee. Getting those messages across really helped and was evident by the feedback given by members on both sides of the political spectrum … notably on the successfully engagement with residents and how the scheme responded accordingly. Message was very welcome!

On point

Harry was on point and has been the whole way through. We are all very chuffed. We are already preparing for another rather testing application on another site and you can be certain that we will engage you

Appreciated

Thanks Richard, your help has been much appreciated. Will let you know when the next job comes up!

Big guns!

Thanks for your and the team’s help. It was good to know we had the proverbial big guns in our armoury!

You kept calm

Many thanks for that: your team did very well, and kept a lot calmer than me! Matt was a sensible wise head, as was Alex, but he also made me think succinctly for the questions and how to answer, which is a great skill to try and acquire. Especially for someone as verbose as me!

A unanimous approval

Councillors praised both officers and the developer on their work and engagement.

A unanimous approval 5-0

With your help

Really pleased to hear the news this evening

With your help, we got it through !!!!

Best Regards!

Truly excellent example

Great news that we approved 60 houses on green belt last night.

It was tremendous that the Chair said that this was a “truly excellent example of good consultation…”

Gave me more confidence

Thank you – we were both somewhat surprised given the level of objections but in fact the committee hardly discussed the scheme at all before consenting it.

Thanks to your team for preparing me well for the committee which certainly gave me more confidence.

A big relief

Thank you. A big relief. As I am sure you can appreciate, we are delighted!

Your team did a great job, especially Matt who was integral.

I look forward to catching up soon.

Unanimous

196 flats approved unanimously, thanks to all involved.

Professional and effective

I wanted to thank you and all at Thorncliffe for managing the consultation process so professionally and effectively. This, without doubt, played a crucial role in gaining the approval.

Once again, all our thanks.

Was a good result

Cant remember the last time I got anything through unanimously!

Was a good result, it’s the right scheme for the site and of course we had a great team including yourselves working on it,

First class troops

Richard. Your troops did a first class job as always. Many thanks

Praise for communityUK

Well done for the way you presented tonight’s online consultation. I thought it was an excellent format.

Great result last night

I just wanted to say thank you again for all your help with the great result last night.

You have been tremendous and it is much appreciated.

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