Last week the Chancellor touted developing the countryside around our towns and cities as the key to unlocking economic growth. But at what cost?
More than 1,700 farms, an area of land the size of Leeds, have disappeared from the edge of English towns and cities since 2010. Many of them were in the Green Belt, 14 areas of protected land, introduced by the post-war Labour government, but undermined by this one.
These lost farms are no longer putting food on people’s plates, providing tranquil green spaces for people to enjoy, or doing their bit to safeguard the natural world.
The farms that remain close to towns and cities are food-producing powerhouses.
Although they represent just over 10% of the UK’s farmland, they produce more than double that proportion of our wheat, oats and barley, along with significant amounts of potatoes and milk.
They also function as green buffers that support local wildlife, reduce food miles and contribute an impressive £3.3 billion to our economy each year.
In her speech, the Chancellor confidently announced that building on the green belt will fix the housing crisis. It won’t. It will only lead to more car-dependent, identikit estates of unaffordable homes across our countryside, damage the UK farming sector, and undermine a key environmental protection that Labour itself invented.
In England alone, more than 1.2 million homes could be built on shovel-ready brownfield sites. 1.4 million potential new homes have been granted planning permission but have not yet been built.
The reality is that large housebuilders – not the planning system or environmentalists – are to blame for the painfully slow delivery of new homes.
By deliberately restricting supply, they maximise profit for themselves. They have a role to play, but unchecked, it’s like putting the fox in charge of the hen house.
Every farm lost from the edges of our towns and cities is an erosion of UK’s countryside and capacity to feed itself.
Faced with climate change and nature in freefall, we should be celebrating those who farm the land around our towns and cities, rather than eyeing up their farmland for new homes that should be built on brownfield land.
