Our Green Belt and London Green Belt Council Meeting

Our Green Belt

England’s Green Belt shrunk by 18,390 hectares equivalent to 25,756 football pitches between 2011 and 2019.

Redbridge Green Belt shrunk by 140 hectares (196 football pitches) between 2011 – 2024. Our lungs are getting smaller!

It should also be noted that when the Green Belt was created there were many more farms, at least 45 in Redbridge at the end of the last century with only a handful still surviving. These were not all part of the green belt and we have commercialisation of some of the County Parks / Green Belt.

London Green Belt Council Meeting – Attended by our Chair Vanessa

The meeting covered a number of key issues or schemes being evolved at the moment including Devolution, Planning and Infrastructure, Grey Belt.

London Green Belt Council’s message to the Government see here

Main points:
The average time for a large planning application to be finalized is 7 years – and the Government are aiming for 30 months.
London Boroughs will still have Local Elections in May – the rest of the country is the subject of amalgamation of the 66 District Councils to 5 or 7 Major authorities. There is a fast-track plan for devolution and Essex has to submit their plans by 21^st March 2025.  This means all those district councils in Essex will NOT have Local Elections this May and its not clear what or how many councilors people will be able to vote for – but the Cllrs will have bigger areas to look after.
The Mayor for London will be in charge of reviewing the Green Belt in London.

• less that 30% of Local Authorities have Local Plans and she said that Council’s should start formulating them NOW. 
• Strategic Plans can cross boundaries and will be for allocating areas for development and again it was stressed that Local Plans were vital in the process.
• The affordable element of housing and how it ‘screwed’ the figures, where the example of Bromley are expected to allow a 400% increase in housing.  If the ‘affordable’ element of targets were removed or was not mandatory, there would be a reduction in the housing targets.
• The ONS will publish on the 9^th May the household/population projections
• The London Green Belt Council – President – Gareth Bacon MP said he thought the Grey Belt wording was deceitful, not a real concept and therefore definitions of Green Belt were being watered down.

• Call an immediate halt to the widespread release of the London Metropolitan Green Belt.
• Strengthen the planning system to ensure protection policies are adhered to.
• Halt a wave of Green Belt reviews and the large-scale release of previously protected Green Belt land.
• Amend flawed housing target assessments which force encroachment onto Green Belt.
• Reduce pressure on the South East and increase levelling-up opportunities in the rest of the UK.

Farms in Redbridge at the end of the last century

Aldborough Hall Farm, Aldborough Hatch
Aldborough Hatch Farm, Aldborough Hatch
Asylum Farm, Tomswood Hill
Barley Hall, Little Heath
Beehive Farm, Beehive
Bennett’s Castle, Bennetts Castle Lane
Buntingbridge Farm, Newbury Park (Bunters Bridge)
Castle Rising Farm, Ley Street
Claybury Farm, Roding Lane North
Clay Hall
Cranbrook Farm, Cranbrook Hall
Downshall Farm, Seven Kings
Dunsprings, Dunsprings Lane. Barkingside
Fencepiece Farm, Fencepiece Road, Barkingside
Fernhall Farm, Roding Lane South
Forest Farm, Forest Road Fairlop
Forest House, New North Road, Hainault
Fulwell Hatch Farm, Fulwell Hatch
Gaysham Hall, Barkingside
Goodmayes Farm, Goodmayes
Great Gearies, Barkingside
Great Newbury, Aldborough Road
Grove Farm, High Road Chadwell Heath
Hainault Farm Hainault Road
Heavy Waters, Green Lane Goodmayes
Hedgemans (near where Longwood Gardens runs through to Mossford Green)
Highfield Farm, Barkingside
Highlands Farm, Cranbrook
Hope Farm, New North Road, Hainault
Huntings Farm, Green Lane
Ley Street Farm, Ley Street, Ilford
Little Gearies Barkingside
Little Heath Farm, Little Heath
Little Newbury, Ley Street
Loxford Hall, Loxford Lane,
Middlefield Farm (where Perth Road is now)
Padnall Hall, Chadwell Heath
Primrose Farm, Barley Lane
Red House Farm, Billet Road
St Swithins Woodford Bridge Road
Seven Kings Farm (where Falmouth Gardens is now)
The Grange, Aldborough Hatch
Uphall Farm, Uphall Road
Wangey Hall Farm, Chadwell Heath
Whites Farm, Oaks Lane

NB. Does not include farms that had already disappeared for house building before the end of the century. (Source Ilford & District Historical Association).