Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that greenbelt land surrounding Coventry South constituency is protected from development.

This Government will continue to support the protection and enhancement of the Green Belt and other valued greenfield land, and to strongly encourage re-use of suitable brownfield land for development, in line with manifesto commitments and our National Planning Policy Framework. The Framework states that most new building is inappropriate in Green Belt and should be refused planning permission unless there are very special circumstances, and that only in exceptional circumstances may a Green Belt boundary be altered. We have been clear in our reform proposals, set out in the White Paper Planning for the Future, that existing policy for protecting the Green Belt would remain.

Consultation on the White Paper closed on 29 October 2020. My Department is undertaking further detailed policy development on individual elements of the proposals, and we will announce any next steps as soon as practicable.