Grey belt policy and the impact on villages and rural communities

That this House notes that the December 2024 National Planning Policy Framework, and the December 2025 consultation version, defines the term grey belt planning applications as those on Green Belt land that does not strongly contribute to three Green Belt purposes which all relate to towns and large built-up areas, and excludes the green belt purpose c, namely safeguarding the countryside from encroachment from policy for determining such applications; further notes growing evidence that this town-focused test is shifting development pressure toward open agricultural land on the edges of villages and smaller settlements, contrary to long-standing settlement hierarchy principles designed to combat commercial pressures for unplanned development in the open countryside; believes that this risks the gradual coalescence of settlements, and the loss of distinctive rural and village character; calls on the Government to review the definition and associated guidance on grey belt; and also notes the importance of getting grey belt development right, so as to ensure that 150,000 social homes can be built per year, in well-connected locations, and that this will best be achieved by giving local communities and the councillors who represent them more, not less involvement in decision making.