Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 137 of the National Planning Policy Framework, if he will provide guidance to Rossendale Borough Council on ensuring that all other sources of Housing and Employment Land supply have been exhausted before resorting to the release of land from the Green Belt in that organisation's Local Plan.

It is for the local authority to consider, and consult locally on, development plan policies that establish where the boundary of its Green Belt, or any development boundary of a settlement, should run. The Secretary of State appoints independent planning inspectors to assess the soundness of any revised plan submitted.

The Government revised the National Planning Policy Framework in 2018, clarifying the exceptional circumstances test for local authorities who are proposing altering the Green Belt boundary through the local plan process. Local authorities need to demonstrate that all other reasonable options for meeting identified development needs have been examined, including those criteria given in paragraph 137, and will need to consider all available evidence and local circumstances in making this assessment.