We want the Government’s review to look into updating planning policy by recognising the primacy of Green Belt purpose, village settlement boundaries & made Neighbourhood Plans when deciding on planning applications.

The 2026 NPPF uses purposes (a), (b) and (d) to identify grey belt. Those tests address the sprawl of large built-up areas, the merging of towns and the setting of historic towns — they do not directly assess the equivalent functions of land around villages. We feel this creates a serious risk that genuinely rural greenbelt land between villages is being judged by tests that do not reflect its function. We believe villages are not spaces between towns; countryside encroachment should be a decisive test.