MP: planning review is threat to Green Belt

Economist Kate Barker's independent Review of Land Use Planning was published last Tuesday and contains recommendations that would fundamentally alter planning guidelines. Commissioned by Chancellor Gordon Brown and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, the recommendations laid out in the review will form the backbone of new Government policy.

But the review has drawn criticism from Ms Villiers, Barnet Council and environmental groups, who all say it threatens the Green Belt.

Ms Villiers said: "The Government is proposing a top-down, regionally driven approach which will totally ignore the wishes of local communities. This is one of the gravest threats to the Green Belt for years and I will be fighting it strongly.

"The review recommends the strengthening of the role of the regional planning bodies and wants these bodies to review our Green Belt boundaries as part of their Regional Spatial Strategy'.

"This is a euphemism for a real attack on Green Belt protection. The Barker Review was personally commissioned and supported by the Chancellor and is further evidence that he is brown not green. He may have followed David Cameron's lead in talking about green issues but his policies on the Green Belt will actively damage our environment."

Stewart Murray, the council's director of planning and environmental protection, added should Ms Barker's recommendations be implemented by the Government, we could see swathes of Green Belt disappearing.' Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said in a written parliamentary statement: "The Government welcomes Kate Barker's report which we will take forward, and agrees with her overall analysis.

"We will set out in a White Paper in spring 2007 our proposals in response to her recommendations for improving the speed, responsiveness and efficiency of land use planning."