19 November 2021
Hounslow Green Party and other local environmental and resident’s groups fiercely attacked Hounslow Council’s proposal to release Green Belt for development during a Local Plan review session held in Hounslow House on Thursday 18th November 2021.
Gwion Lewis, a QC hired by Hounslow Council, summarised the plans to release 558 hectares of Hounslow’s Green Belt including building large new logistics buildings connected to a proposed “Heathrow gateway”.
Tony Firkins, the Hounslow Green Party planning spokesperson, argued that the Local Plan should support Hounslow’s Climate Emergency, not make Heathrow’s footprint bigger, particularly following the failure of the recent COP26 conference to get an agreement to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees centigrade.
Nina Miles, speaking for the Greater London Authority (GLA), agreed with the campaigners that there was no justification to build on the Green Belt, and worried that this precedent could lead to further losses of Green Belt across London. She told the inspectors that the Hounslow Councils plans to redesignate Green Belt weren’t aligned to the London Plan.
Stephen Clark, the Green Party candidate for Brentford West in next year’s local elections, commented “By law Green Belt can only be built on in exceptional circumstances. These are not exceptional circumstances. Why aren’t the council listening to the GLA?”
“We recognise that there is a need for further development in Hounslow. We should regenerate existing brownfield sites instead of using Green Belt land. Statisticians have discredited the old ONS population forecasts used by the council to justify new housing.”
“The Green Belt is not ours to develop; it is held on trust for future generations. This massive open green space contributes hugely to biodiversity and community health. Once the developers have built on this precious green space, we will never get it back. Shame on the council!”
