On 22 November the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, will announce his Autumn Budget, and is proposing the release of Green Belt land for housing. It is not clear at this stage exactly what is being proposed, or what this will mean for North Weald Bassett or the Epping Forest District.
Epping Forest District Council’s Local Plan is currently the only method by which areas of land can be released from the Green Belt in our area. The District Council has completed a full and thorough Green Belt assessment, and any land proposed for release will be backed up by many pages of supporting evidence.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) states that “Building on Green Belt is the easy way out and doesn’t build what communities need – affordable houses. Our Research shows that nearly three-quarters of the housing proposed on Green Belt land will be unaffordable for most people living in the local area.”
Whatever the content of the Chancellors budget, it will undoubtedly have an effect on our Neighbourhood Plan. Roll on 22nd November!
For more information, go to:
- Gov.uk – https://www.gov.uk/government/news/autumn-budget-2017-date-confirmed
- EFDC Draft Local Plan information – http://www.efdclocalplan.org/technical-information/
- CPRE – http://takeaction.cpre.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=21&ea.campaign.id=81087&ea.tracking.id=home-carousel&_ga=2.49912994.585393873.1510597052-290885176.1510597052