Green Belts are disappearing before our eyes…
CPRE Hampshire is inviting local residents and the media to see first-hand how changes to national Green Belt policy could affect two sites in Hordle and Everton.
Our Green Belts are under threat like never before, with increasing demands for land to accommodate new housing.
New research from CPRE shows that there is now enough brownfield land in England for more than 1.54 million new homes, enough to exceed the government’s entire 1.5 million target. CPRE’s latest brownfield research has been compiled from each local Council’s publicly available Brownfield Land Register, from across all of England. These also reveal that 859,722 new homes on previously developed land have already been granted planning permission but have not yet been built.
The Government could meet its housing target without building in the countryside.
These brownfield figures are hugely significant for the government’s ambition to build 1.5 million new homes. With enough identified brownfield land for more than 1.54 million new homes, the government could deliver its housing target without having to build in the Green Belt or on greenfield land in the wider countryside.
The pressure on Green Belt land has increased since the Government announced plans in July 2024 to release some ‘low-quality’ Green Belt land for development by designating it as ‘grey belt ‘. Then Secretary of State Angela Rayner said this could include “land on the edge of existing settlements or roads, as well as old petrol stations and car parks”
The prospect of Green Belt land being redesignated as ‘grey belt’ has led to increased interest from developers.
In Hampshire, the villages of Hordle, Everton and Milford are at the centre of growing pressure for development on Green Belt land, with an unprecedented wave of speculative planning applications being submitted.
CPRE Hampshire is organising a free guided walk on Saturday 24 October. Those joining will have the chance to view two sites in Hordle and Everton that are currently in the Southwest Hampshire Green Belt but are now facing speculative planning applications.
We want to help people understand and see first-hand the potential effect of this change in national Green Belt policy.
Hordle & Everton Green Belt Walk
Saturday 24th October
10am – 1pm
Free. Places are limited – booking essential
Book your place: register.enthuse.com/ps/event/HordleampEvertonGreenBeltWalk
Or visit: www.cprehampshire.org.uk/get-involved/events/
The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) is involved in the Green Belt debate at a national level. We believe the current debate focuses more on what the Green Belt blocks and is missing an opportunity to look towards what it could deliver, if given the chance. As an existing spatial designation, Green Belt has the potential to support nature’s recovery, climate mitigation and adaptation, local food systems, and people’s health and wellbeing. It is an important urban-edge green space which is valued by local communities.
Read CPRE’s report on Improving Green Belt for Nature, Climate and People: www.cpre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Improving-Green-Belt-for-nature-climate-and-people-Dec2024.pdf
A recent survey carried out for ‘More in Common’ for CPRE found that nine in ten people want the countryside protected. All the groups surveyed favour building on brownfield sites in preference to open countryside – but this is not happening.
