Council to consider dropping Green Belt sites from local plan after Government announcement on proposed changes to National Planning Policy Framework

An extraordinary meeting is to be held next week (16 January) at Mole Valley District Council where councillors will consider asking the Planning Inspector's view on removing all Green Belt sites from the local authority's draft local plan, in light of the Government’s proposed updates to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Five councillors, including Mole Valley's leader, Cllr Stephen Cooksey, called the meeting for next week (16 January).

The meeting's agenda documents explain that the recent publication of the Government's consultation on changes to the NPPF suggest that the local authority's currently paused local plan would "go beyond what will be required to meet development needs under the proposals".

The agenda adds that: "In particular, the government proposals set out that the standard methodology, which calculates the number of houses that should be built, is a starting point and is only advisory.

"This has the potential impact that the council could reasonably be seeking a lower housing target based on the most up to date household projections.

"Further, the proposals set out Green Belt boundaries are not required to be reviewed and altered if this would be the only means of meeting the objectively assessed need for housing over the plan period."

News of the Government's plan to change planning rules came late last month with the launch of a public consultation on changes to the NPPF.

The 58-question consultation suggests the introduction of “new flexibilities” to meeting housing needs, including a change that the outcome of the standard method for assessing local housing need is “an advisory starting-point to inform plan-making – a guide that is not mandatory”.

On the Green Belt, the consultation proposes a change to the NPPF's chapter on protecting Green Belt land, "to make clear that local planning authorities are not required to review and alter Green Belt boundaries if this would be the only way of meeting need in full (although authorities would still have the ability to review and alter Green Belt boundaries if they wish, if they can demonstrate that exceptional circumstances exist)”.

Mole Valley's draft plan has only proposed amending Green Belt boundaries on the basis of meeting housing need setting out that meeting need without use of the Green Belt would significantly negatively impact on the character of towns and villages. "It is therefore considered that the direction of travel in respect of plan making is changing and that the Council should seek agreement from the Planning Inspector that it can make a main modification to the local plan removing the housing site allocations within the Green Belt."

The local authority submitted its draft plan to the Secretary State for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities for examination in February 2022.

The plan is currently at the Main Modifications stage, meaning Mole Valley can still submit changes to the local plan for the inspector’s approval.

Adam Carey