Row over Leeds green belt as Government strips council powers over housing developments
A huge row has broken out around Leeds’ green belt as the government plans to take more and more powers away from councils to overrule them on huge housing developments in their areas.
Leeds Conservative group leader, Coun Alan Lamb, has claimed that 90 per cent of the city’s green belt is to be reclassified as grey belt, following a confidential briefing he had with local authority officials.
He said he was “breaking confidence with a heavy heart, but because I think it is important”, and added that “all the people of Leeds should know”.
This claim has been dismissed as “incorrect and misleading” by the council, which said the review of the green belt is at a very early stage.
This has been ordered by the Government as part of its aim to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029.
The green belt is made up of buffer zones around cities such as Sheffield, Leeds and York, which limit building to prevent urban sprawl.
The Government has ordered councils to review this to find so-called “grey belt” areas, such as wasteland, old car parks and petrol stations which have been wrongly classified.
Leeds City Council deputy leader Coun Jonathan Pryor said: “As part of the Leeds Local Plan we need to undertake a comprehensive green belt assessment, an assessment that is in the very early stages.
“No grey belt sites have been identified and no calculations have been made, so for Coun Lamb to have made the comments he did was frankly irresponsible.
“In Leeds we will continue to prioritise brownfield land to meet our housing needs, because everyone deserves a decent home for them and their families. Irresponsible scaremongering from the Tories will not deter us from this goal.”
The row comes as the Government is set to take away more powers from local councils in having oversight of housing developments in their areas.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed is set to block councils from refusing planning permission for housing projects of more than 150 homes.
Instead, these will have to be referred to Whitehall for a final decision and put ministers “in the driving seat”, according to sources, even in the face of local opposition.
Today, the Government will announce that house building plans near “well-connected train stations” such as Leeds, Sheffield and York will receive a default answer of yes.
Once again, Mr Reed will be able to override local councils and have the final say on whether these projects are granted permission.
He said: “I promised we’d get Britain building and that’s exactly what we are doing.
“But it has to be the right homes in the right places and nearby transport links are a vital part of that.
“We’re making it easier to build well-connected and high-quality homes, using stronger powers to speed things up if councils drag their feet, and proposing to streamline the consultation process to cut back delays.”
This will also extend into the green belt, so could apply to stations on the outskirts of Yorkshire’s major cities.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “We’re ending years of dither and delay by green lighting affordable new homes for working people.
“This is another demonstration that our plan for change is getting spades in the ground faster, connecting people with jobs and opportunities closer to where they live, and boosting towns and cities across the country.”
Kevin Hollinrake, Conservative Party chair and Thirsk and Malton MP, said: “In a desperate attempt to hit their undeliverable 1.5m homes target, Leeds, like so many other towns and cities is being sacrificed on the altar of the Government’s ‘grey-belt’ con trick.
“Coupled with proposals to strip local councillors of their say over large developments, it’s clear this Government is willing to sweep aside proper local decision-making to meet its numbers at any cost.”