Manchester Development Summit 2015: Green belts cause “massive environmental damage” and are the “elephant in the room”, the managing director of Cheshire-based Tatton Estate has said.
Speaking on a panel debating whether we are seeing a slowdown in the practical delivery of housing, Henry Brooks said: “There is a perception that it’s an environmental good, but if you think about all the people that are pushed onto trains and motorways, or roads commuting in or out of London every day, the carbon footprint of a one or two or three-hour commute, not taking into account all the other environmental issues, is huge.
“And it is a bit of a disgrace to our nation that we haven’t grappled with that problem.”
Cheshire and Warrington he said, were “massively constrained” by the green belt, adding that he hoped it could be unlocked through devolution and more regional planning powers.
Philip Barnes, planning director at Group Land, said Manchester city council should be pushed and applauded for building on the green belt, “rather than beating itself up about it”.
He wanted to see garden cities created along the HS2 route and 2,000-3,000 homes built at every HS3 station between Leeds and Manchester.
“You cannot out-compete London for constraint on planning, but you can out-compete it on the devolution, on going for growth, on building more homes,” he said.
