The Burton upon Trent and Swadlincote Green Belt is a

green belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which ...

environmental and planning policy that regulates the rural space between the towns of

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The ...

and Swadlincote, in the counties of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

and Staffordshire, within the East Midlands region of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Essentially, the function of the belt in this location is to prevent the towns merging by lessening

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

. It is managed by local planning authorities on guidance from central government.

Geography

Land area taken up by the green belt is as of 2016, making it the smallest in the country. The main coverage is within the South Derbyshire district, mainly concentrated within the unparished area around Swadlincote and the parish of Bretby, with smaller tracts in the parishes of Castle Gresley, Cauldwell and Drakelow. It 'washes' over the ribbon developments at Stanhope Bretby along the A511 road, small commercial properties at Middle Place in the Bretby Stoneware Industrial Estate, private residences by the rural end of the Sunnyside country lane, and at Stanton along the A444 road, which has the only large scale development with its sewage works. Small portions are within greenfield land and farmland in the Brizlincote, Stapenhill, and

Winshill Winshill is an area to the east of the town of Burton upon Trent, in the borough of East Staffordshire, England. Flanked to the north and east by the South Derbyshire border, historically the parish of Winshill had always been part of Derbyshir ...

parishes of

East Staffordshire East Staffordshire is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire in England. It has two main towns: Burton upon Trent and Uttoxeter. Villages in the area include Abbots Bromley, Stretton, Tutbury, Barton-under-Needwood ...

, although it does not extend to the settlements themselves. Due to the green belt lying across two counties, responsibility lies with the South Derbyshire and

district councils as these are the local planning authorities.

History

The Green Belt was first proposed in 1980 during a review of the Derbyshire Structure Plan. It was later approved by central government and termed the South Derbyshire Green Belt. It took some time to define the boundaries to some accuracy after further local and government consultation, with a localised council plan subsequently being adopted in April 1983. Later boundary changes have meant it presently extends cross-border into Staffordshire.

References

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External links

Interactive map of green belt land
Green belts in the United Kingdom Environment of Derbyshire Environment of Staffordshire Burton upon Trent

Geography

History

See also

References

External links