Avon Green Belt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Avon Green Belt,[1] also known as the Bristol and Bath Green Belt[2] (or Bath and Bristol Green Belt[3]), is a non-statutory green belt environmental and planning policy that regulates urban expansion and development in the countryside surrounding the cities of Bristol and Bath in the South West region of England. It covers areas in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, the county of Somerset which include the council areas of North Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset and Somerset, and Wiltshire. Essentially, the function of the green belt is to limit urban sprawl and maintain the open character of areas around the Bristol and Bath built up areas, and nearby towns and villages.[4] The policy is implemented by local planning authorities on the basis of guidance from central government.
The land area of the green belt is 66,868 hectares, 0.5% of the total land area of England (2010).[1] Much of the green belt lies within the North Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire districts, with smaller areas in the west of Wiltshire, Somerset district and Bristol. Key towns and villages surrounded by or immediately adjoining the green belt include Thornbury, Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Frampton Cotterell, Winterbourne, Coalpit Heath, Keynsham, Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge, Nailsea, Backwell, Portishead, and Clevedon. Bristol Airport is also surrounded by green belt.
The green belt includes parts of two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Mendip Hills to the south and the Cotswolds to the east. Responsibility and co-ordination of green belt policy rests with local unitary and district councils as these are the local planning authorities; however the area is largely covered by the West of England Combined Authority which has some responsibilities for the infrastructure of the area.[5][6]
