Nature chief questions benefit of the green belt

The fate of the green belts that have guarded the countryside for 50 years was thrown into doubt yesterday when the body in charge of protecting the natural environment questioned their worth.

Dr Helen Phillips, chief executive of Natural England, said the buffer zones to curb urban sprawl were neglected, inaccessible to the public and offered little benefit to wildlife.

Rather than surrounding cities with no-go areas for new housing, it was time to find better uses for green belt land, she added.

Her controversial comments came as Natural England published its first State of the Natural Environment Report  -  a look at how landscape and wildlife are changing.

It warned that the natural environment was 'much less rich than 50 years ago' and remained under pressure from developers and climate change. The report added that a fifth of England's landscapes are showing signs of neglect. And in woodlands, lack of management has halved the number of native butterflies.

Dr Phillips said: 'The natural environment is increasingly under threat, both within and especially away from protected areas.

'We need to find ways to manage our landscape to create a mosaic of uses so we can help wildlife survive  -  be it through a new national park around the length of England's coastline, better use of the green belt or improved use of public funding for farmers to deliver a better natural environment.'

Dr Phillips said Natural England was not in favour of urban sprawl  -  but said much of the green belt was neglected and poor quality.

Rather than a blanket ban on building, planners should find ways of creating green gaps, wedges and corridors that helped wildlife and made better use of green spaces next to cities.

England's 14 green belts cover 13 per cent of the country and surround the major cities. Gordon Brown says he will defend them, but Labour's plans for three million new homes are putting them under huge pressure. Two of Whitehall's planned eco-towns would encroach on green belt land.

Eric Pickles, Tory spokesman on local government, said: 'There is a clear conspiracy across Government to undermine valuable green belt protection and let rip with the bulldozer and concrete mixer.

'Labour quangocrats are acting as cheerleaders to undermine popular support for this environmental protection-Yet undermining the green belt will lead to unsustainable urban sprawl, more congestion and a new generation of sink estates miles from anywhere.'

The Campaign to Protect Rural England said Labour had allowed huge swathes of green belt land to be lost to developers since 1997.

In Nottingham, Government inspectors have recommended the wholesale removal of the green belt on three out of four sides of the city.

Tom Oliver, CPRE spokesman, said: 'It is critical that green belts remain permanent. If they are not, then landowners will no longer have an incentive to manage them because they are just waiting for the chance to sell them for housing.

'We are already losing substantial amounts of green belt land, but that's nothing compared to what we would lose if green belt policy was lost.' >