Plan for 208 homes on Green Belt land

Some 208 new properties are earmarked to be built on land that will soon be released from the Green Belt, according to new figures released by the Campaign to protect Rural England.

The report revealed plans for 460,000 homes to be built on land that will soon be released from the Green Belt across England. Only 22 per cent of these planned homes would be affordable by Government definition.

Coun John Maskell, of Wrea Green Parish Council, who has spoken against plans to build on Green Belt land in the past, said: “At the moment we have got four planning applications in Wrea Green on what you would call green land. We have enough houses as it is, and we feel it’s a great tragedy to be building on productive agricultural land.

“It’s not just about preserving green spaces. The existing infrastructure can’t keep up with more housing.

“You get developers building new houses, but they don’t ever seem to improve the sewers or the water supply or the roads.”

Ashley Sorensen, of the Wyre Council Residents Concerns and Action Group, said: “I find it appalling that residents are expected to take this on the chin. It shows an arrogance and disregard for residents. We are below average for providing affordable housing as it is.”

Tom Fyans, of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: “We are being sold a lie by many developers. As they sell off and gobble up the Green Belt to build low density, unaffordable housing, young families go on struggling to afford a place to live.

“The affordable housing crisis must be addressed with increasing urgency, while acknowledging that far from providing the solution, building on the Green Belt only serves to entrench the issue.”