Theresa Villiers has published the following article on why she will always work to safeguard Barnet's green belt and open spaces:
"Ever since I was elected 19 years ago as MP, it has been a priority to protect to protect the natural environment. Here in Barnet, we are so lucky to be surrounded by green belt land.
For decades, the green belt has prevented urban sprawl and helped us safeguard nature and biodiversity. It is a vital green lung for everyone in our capital city. Without it, we would see an ever-expanding London swallowing up towns and cities across the south and east, concreting over the countryside between them.
Even a small incursion on green belt land can set a bad precedent and lead to further losses in the future. That is why I fought strongly against the proposal for a burial ground on green belt land in Arkley in 2016. This was defeated, and so was the 2023 proposal for a caravan site on a field off Mays Lane used for grazing horses.
I campaigned for many years to try to save the agricultural fields at Whalebones in High Barnet. Sadly, this was not classified as green belt land so did not have the special protection that provides. Even so, it was bitterly disappointing when Barnet Council granted permission to build on this open land.
It is deeply worrying that Enfield Council are proposing to build thousands of homes on the green belt in our next door borough. Now Labour say they will allow building on the green belt if they win the election. I am strongly opposing that.
Of course we need new homes, and over 2.25 million have been delivered since the Conservatives returned to office in 2010. But we need to make sure that they are the right homes in the right places. I am very supportive of the homes delivered through regeneration of a number of Barnet Council’s major estates, such as Dollis Valley. I worked with the council in 2019 to secure Government funding for new rail infrastructure to support one of these big projects.
Part of the pressure for inappropriate development results from targets set for the number of new homes to be built. For our borough these are decided by the Mayor’s London Plan. The concern is that councils will sometimes say that they have to accept bad development proposals in order to meet the target. This can lead to blocks of flats being approved in low-rise suburban neighhourhoods.
I strongly believe high rise tower blocks are the wrong choice for an outer suburban area like ours. So I have been fighting to ensure that local decision-making is not undermined by excessive housing targets. I spoke with many backbench MP colleagues with similar concerns, and working together, via my Planning Concern WhatsApp group, we have had a real impact on planning law and policy.
In 2020, we stopped plans for housing targets to be hiked up by what became known as the ‘mutunt algorithm’ which would have almost doubled our target here in Barnet. In 2022, we persuaded Ministers to back down on proposals published in the 2020 Planning for the Future White Paper which would have set up so-called ‘growth zones’ in which neither residents, nor their locally elected representatives, would have had any say in what was built.
During the debate in 2022 and 2023 on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, I tabled an amendment which gained the backing of 60 MPs. As a result, we secured further concessions from Secretary of State Michael Gove which strengthened rules safeguarding green belt land. It was also confirmed that housing targets are advisory not mandatory. I was widely credited with securing a significant policy change from the Government.
I will always fight to keep the whole of the Chipping Barnet constituency as green and leafy as it is today."
Digital imprint: Promoted by Theresa Villiers of 163 High Street, Barnet, EN5 5SU.
