CHAPTER 8: The Green Belt and Rural Landscapes

8.1

Introduction

Wolverhampton is a highly urbanised, industrial area, with limited areas of green open space. Such space provides opportunities for recreation and valuable wildlife habitats (see Chapter 7: Nature Conservation and Chapter 12: Open Space, Sport and Recreation), particularly where it forms part of a wider network of open space, but it is often under pressure from a variety of uses and demand for development land. Open space on the urban fringe can play a vital role in separating settlements and linking the urban open space network into the surrounding countryside. Green Belt and other designations help to protect such areas from inappropriate development.

Planning Policy Guidance Note 2 (PPG2): Green Belts (1995) states that Green Belt boundaries should endure over a longer time period than the life of the Development Plan and should only be altered in exceptional circumstances. In accordance with this guidance, Green Belt boundaries as defined in the 1993 UDP have largely been retained.

The principal change in PPG2 from that used as the basis for the 1993 UDP is the removal of ‘institutions standing in large grounds’ from the list of appropriate uses in Green Belts. To compensate, PPG2 introduces the concept of Major Developed Sites (MDS) for the first time. The UDP identifies a number of MDS’s, as set out in Policy G4.

8.2

The Function and Role of the Green Belt

Many of the significant open spaces in Wolverhampton have been given long term protection as Green Belt. Many areas of Green Belt are also protected by other Plan policies. There are four purposes of including land in the Green Belt in Wolverhampton:

• To check the further growth of the conurbation;
• To prevent the conurbation from merging into neighbouring settlements, such as Bilbrook and Perton;
• To assist in safeguarding the South Staffordshire countryside from encroachment;
• To assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land in the conurbation.

The areas of Green Belt in Wolverhampton are shown on the Proposals Map. The majority is in the form of wedges which stretch from the open countryside into the built up area.  These wedges are located at:

Tettenhall / South Staffordshire golfcourse

Smestow Valley / Valley Park

Goldthorn / Lower Penn

Bushbury

8.3

Control of Development Affecting the Green Belt

Within the Green Belt, development will be strictly controlled. PPG2 states that the construction of new buildings in a Green Belt area is inappropriate, unless it is for one of the following purposes:

• agriculture and forestry;
• essential facilities for outdoor sport and recreation, cemeteries and other uses of land which preserve the openness of the Green Belt and do not conflict with the purposes of including land in it;
• limited extension, alteration or replacement of existing dwellings;
• limited infilling or redevelopment of major existing developed sites (see below);
• park and ride schemes.

The countryside surrounding urban areas will often be the most sustainable location for park and ride schemes. For this reason, park and ride development may not be inappropriate in the Green Belt, providing that the proposal complies with criteria listed in PPG2. Park and ride schemes are also subject to Policy AM11.

The re-use of buildings in the Green Belt is also appropriate development, providing that:

• the proposed use will not have a greater impact on the openness of the Green Belt than the existing use;
• there is strict control over extensions to buildings and uses of land surrounding buildings;
• the buildings are of permanent and substantial construction and capable of conversion;
• the design of buildings is in keeping with their surroundings.

8.4

Major Developed Sites

PPG2 states that major developed sites may be designated within the Green Belt. The Council has adopted the following criteria for the designation of major developed sites in Wolverhampton, based on guidance in PPG2:

All Major Developed Sites should:

• be of a substantial size to include a substantial built footprint, totalling more than 5,000 sqm, which has a significant impact on the openness of the Green Belt;
• have an identifiable core of buildings which could accommodate limited infill development without having any greater impact on the openness of the Green Belt than existing development;
• offer the prospect for environmental improvement through complete or partial redevelopment without having any greater impact on the openness of the Green Belt than existing development.

Using this definition, eleven major developed sites have been designated. These sites are identified on the proposals map and listed below. Most are in active use, but a few include redundant buildings which could be released for other, appropriate, uses. On other sites, improvements to facilities could be made which would benefit the economy and the local community or provide environmental enhancements. The Council will allow re-use, limited in-filling or redevelopment on these identified sites, providing this does not increase any impact on the character of the Green Belt.

8.5

Access to the Green Belt

Adequate access to open areas at the urban fringe is particularly important for urban dwellers, particularly those living in inner city areas and those without private transport. The Council will continue to try to make areas of Green Belt and the wider countryside more easily accessible to as many people as possible. This can be achieved, for example, through the negotiation of access agreements, improving public rights of ways, signposting and the production of leaflets for self-guided walks.

8.6

Northycote Farm Country Park

A Country Park is an area of land which offers the public, with or without charge, the opportunity to enjoy recreational activities in the countryside. Northycote Farm Country Park is the only Country Park in Wolverhampton and a proposed Local Nature Reserve. The site was acquired by the Council over a period of time and the buildings were restored with grant aid from the Countryside Commission in the early 1990’s. The Country Park boasts a restored seventeenth century Grade II listed farmhouse and large areas of pasture, parkland and woodland, designated as a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation. The Park also forms part of the Bushbury Wedge Area of Special Character and provides opportunities for informal public access for residents of Wolverhampton to the countryside of South Staffordshire.