Protect and Expand Local Green Belt

Ambridge's green belt is one of its most precious and irreplaceable assets. It provides open space for recreation, supports biodiversity, moderates local flood risk, and defines the character of our town in a way that no built development can replicate. Yet in recent years, the green belt has come under increasing pressure from speculative planning applications and from proposals within the council's own local plan review that would release significant areas of protected land for development.

Residents across all wards are united in their view that this land must be protected, not eroded. The case for development does not override the permanent, cumulative loss of open green space that every release decision represents. Once built upon, this land is gone for good.

We call on the Planning & Environment Committee to adopt a firm and unambiguous policy of protecting the existing green belt and to explore viable opportunities to extend it.

Three speculative planning applications for green belt land were received by the council in 2025, each citing 'exceptional circumstances' as justification. The council's own Local Plan review, currently at examination, includes a draft proposal to release 47 hectares of green belt land for residential development. A public consultation in late 2025 recorded objections from 2,340 individual respondents — the highest level of consultation response the council has received on any planning matter in the past decade. Independent analysis from the Green Belt Network suggests that Ambridge has one of the lowest per-capita green space ratios of any comparable district in the region.