The North West 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 hav ...

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

and

planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is consi ...

policy that regulates the rural space throughout mainly the North West 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 ...

. It is contained within the counties of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

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 ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, and

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

. Essentially, the function of the belt is to prevent the cities, towns and villages in the large

and

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

Geography

Land area taken up by the belt is 247,650 hectares, 1.9% of the total land area of England (2010). The main coverage of the belt is within northern Cheshire and southern Lancashire, with the Merseyside and Greater Manchester urban areas completely surrounded, and a small section extending into Derbyshire. The belt area surrounding

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

is close to the Stoke-on-Trent belt, which is considered to be independent of the North West belt. The North West belt is contiguous with the

South and West Yorkshire Green Belt The South and West Yorkshire Green Belt is an environmental and planning policy that regulates the rural space within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. The function of the green belt policy in South and West Yorkshire is to manage ...

along the Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire county boundary. The High Peak towns of Derbyshire,

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is located east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of the county town, Matlock. Glossop lies near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Manches ...

, New Mills, Hadfield, Charlesworth and

Whaley Bridge Whaley Bridge () is a town and civil parish in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England. It is situated on the River Goyt, south-east of Manchester, north of Buxton, north-east of Macclesfield and west of Sheffield. It had a population ...

are all enveloped. Small portions of separated green belt are dotted around the Blackpool urban area, helping to keep the settlements of

Lytham St Annes Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 42,954 ...

Poulton-le-Fylde Poulton-le-Fylde (), commonly shortened to Poulton, is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,264. There is evidence of human habitation ...

, Warton/

Freckleton Freckleton is a village and civil parish on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England, to the south of Kirkham and east of the seaside resort of Lytham St. Annes. In 2001 the parish had a population of 6,045, reducing to 6,019 at the 2011 Census. ...

and

Kirkham Kirkham may refer to: Places *Kirkham, Lancashire, England *Kirkham, North Yorkshire, England *Kirkham, New South Wales, Australia *Kirkham (HM Prison), a prison in Lancashire, England *Kirkham Priory *Kirkham House Other uses *Kirkham (surname) K ...

separated. A distant tract of belt also separates Lancaster and

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

from

Carnforth Carnforth is a market town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England, situated at the north-east end of Morecambe Bay. The parish of Carnforth had a population of 5,560 in the 2011 census, an increase from the 5,350 reco ...

Bolton le Sands Bolton-le-Sands is a large village and civil parish of the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. The parish had a population of 4,098 recorded in the 2001 census, increasing to 4,127 at the 2011 Census. Referred to as ''Bodeltone'' in the ...

Nether Kellet Nether Kellet is a village and civil parish in the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England, a few miles south of Carnforth. It had a population of 646 recorded in the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census, increasing to 663 at the 2011 Census ...

and Hest Bank. Due to the belt lying across several counties, responsibility and co-ordination lies with several district councils and unitary authorities as these are the local planning authorities.

References

External links

Interactive map of green belt land
{{Green belts (United Kingdom) Green belts in the United Kingdom Environment of Lancashire Environment of Merseyside Environment of Cheshire

Geography

See also

References

External links