The Stoke-on-Trent 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 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 policy that regulates the rural space throughout mainly the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

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 and Staffordshire. Essentially, the function of the designated area is to prevent surrounding towns and villages within the Stoke-on-Trent conurbation from further convergence. It is managed by local planning authorities on guidance from central government.

Purpose

The following policy was stated for the creation of the green belt area by

Staffordshire County Council Staffordshire County Council is the top-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Staffordshire, England. 62 councillors sit on Staffordshire County Council. Staffordshire operates a cabinet-style council In England, local auth ...

in 1967:

Cheshire County Council Cheshire County Council was the county council of Cheshire. Founded on 1 April 1889, it was officially dissolved on 31 March 2009, when it and its districts were superseded by two unitary authorities; Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East. ...

set out their policy in 1961:

Geography

Land area taken up by the green belt is , 0.5% of the total land area of England (2010). The main coverage of the area is within northern Staffordshire, extending into southern Cheshire. The

North West Green Belt The North West Green Belt is a green belt environmental and planning policy that regulates the rural space throughout mainly the North West region of England. It is contained within the counties of Cheshire, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, ...

area surrounding Macclesfield lies close to the Stoke-on-Trent green belt, being just over a mile away at its closest extent from the River Dane which forms the northern boundary for the area. Landscape facilities and features within the green belt area include the Cudmore Fisheries, Meaford Energy Centre, Millennium Topograph in Downs Banks, JCB Harewood Estate,

Rudyard Lake Rudyard Lake is a reservoir in Rudyard, Staffordshire, located north-west of the town of Leek, Staffordshire. It was constructed in the late 18th century to feed the Caldon Canal. During the 19th century, it was a popular destination for day ...

Meir Heath Meir Heath is a village just to the south of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire situated on a hilltop between Meir and Rough Close, miles from Barlaston and only 5 miles from Stone. The population as taken at the 2011 census can be found under the ...

, Barlaston Common, Chatterley Whitfield Country Park and enterprise centre, Bucknall Reservoir, the Trent & Mersey and Caldon canals, the

River Blythe The River Blythe flows through the English Midlands from central Warwickshire, through the Borough of Solihull and on to Coleshill in north Warwickshire. It runs along the Meriden Gap in the Midlands Plateau, is fed by the River Cole and is ...

and

Trent Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California, ...

, Wedgwood Museum and estate, Strongford Sewage Treatment Works, and Trent Vale Pumping Station. A large portion of the western boundary is formed by the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

railway. Towns on the outer extents of the green belt include

Alsager Alsager ( ) is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located to the north-west of Stoke-on-Trent and east of Crewe. The town's population was 13,389 at the 2021 census. ''The Mere'' is a ...

, Cheadle, Congleton, Crewe, Leek, and

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

. Towns and villages within the area include Biddulph,

Endon Endon is a village within the Staffordshire Moorlands district of Staffordshire, England. It is southwest of Leek and north-northeast of Stoke-on-Trent. Endon was formerly a township in civil parish of Leek. Together with neighbouring Stan ...

, Kidsgrove,

Rudyard Rudyard may refer to: Places *Rudyard, Mississippi, United States, an unincorporated community *Rudyard, Montana, United States, a census-designated place *Rudyard Township, Michigan, United States *Rudyard, Staffordshire, England, a village ** Rudy ...

Scholar Green Scholar Green () is a village in the civil parish of Odd Rode, in Cheshire, England. Encompassing the smaller settlements of Kent Green and The Bank, it is situated on the A34 road, A34 near Mow Cop, Alsager, Rode Heath, Butt Lane and Kidsgrove a ...

and Swynnerton. Due to the green belt lying across county borders, responsibility and co-ordination lies with several district councils and

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...

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 Staffordshire Environment of Cheshire Stoke-on-Trent

Purpose

Geography

See also

References

External links