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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to ensure the greenbelt in (a) Bury South constituency and (b) Greater Manchester is protected from development.

Planning for the future proposes significant changes to the focus and processes of planning – to secure better outcomes in terms of land for homes, beauty and environmental quality. One key proposal is that local plans place all land into one of three categories: areas for Growth, Renewal or Protection. The Government has made clear that we expect local authorities to categorise Green Belt as an area for Protection. The protections for the Green Belt set out in the National Planning Policy Framework, and the strong encouragement to prioritise re-use of suitable brownfield land, will remain in place, in line with our manifesto commitments.

We also propose to transform how communities engage with plan-making, using new digital tools to make it easier for many more people to understand, engage with and influence development policies and proposals.

After carefully considering all the responses to Planning for the future, the Government will publish its conclusions.