Government environment ministers have today announced plans to build on the protected area of undeveloped land - otherwise known as the Metropolitan Green Belt - around London. Despite promises that only areas which are 'not high quality in conservation terms' will be built on, and that even then the only buildings to appear will come in the form of environmentally friendly 'ecohousing' and other green developments, the proposals have angered environmental campaigners.
Organisations such as the Social Market Foundation deny that building on the green belt is, conservationally-speaking, such a bad move, claiming that the belt contains plenty of ex-industrial sites and scrubland and is 'not as green as people believe'.
It is the government's own ambitious housing targets - ministers want three million new homes by 2020 - which have made this move necessary. Two million of these proposed new residences may potentially need to be built on 'green belt' land.
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