Central South: Green Belt plan may not be the best solution for prosperity in South Hampshire

Proposals for a new Green Belt to restrict building in South Hampshire should be carefully considered to ensure they do not adversely affect growth and prosperity in the region, a leading planning expert has warned.

Robin Shepherd of planning and design consultancy Barton Willmore said proposals by the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) to pull up the drawbridge on any development around the region’s core cities should be examined in the light of the need to create conditions for future economic growth.

Shepherd, a planning and design specialist who advocated greater collaboration between local authorities at the recent week’s Regenerate South conference, believes that instead of considering a blanket ban on housebuilding, authorities should instead work together on long-term strategic plans for well-planned development, linked to infrastructure provision.

“Green belts are the oldest piece of planning legislation, and when they were first introduced they were linked to growth – you had constraint on one hand and growth on the other,” saidShepherd. “Over the years, the link between growth and development and planning has not been communicated effectively enough to communities, so they just call for a stop, and the green belt is the tool used by politicians in response to anti-development sentiment. A better solution would be to engage and work with residents and the business community properly and prepare controlled, well-planned developments for the long term, providing the infrastructure with it, that we so desperately need.”