Oral Answers to Questions

Claire Coutinho Excerpts
Monday 14th June 2021

(3 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Claire Coutinho Portrait Claire Coutinho (East Surrey) (Con)
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What steps his Department is taking to protect green spaces.

Nicola Richards Portrait Nicola Richards (West Bromwich East) (Con)
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What steps his Department is taking to protect green spaces.

Robert Jenrick Portrait The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Robert Jenrick)
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The pandemic has shown how vital our green spaces are for the wellbeing of the nation, from sharing our national parks together to inviting loved ones over to our gardens. That is why it was a priority for me and my Department to reopen our parks at the start of the pandemic—something that has offered a lifeline to many people and families over the past year. As we build back better and greener in our recovery, we will enhance our environment and provide more green spaces through our forthcoming planning reforms. They will build on and embed our already extensive protections for the green belt, areas of outstanding natural beauty and our ancient woodlands.

Claire Coutinho Portrait Claire Coutinho
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I welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to protecting our green spaces and the broader Government investment in our nature recovery programme. Will he consider looking at a new “wild belt” designation as part of the planning proposals to ensure that we protect those hard-won gains for generations to come?

Robert Jenrick Portrait Robert Jenrick
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I would like our planning reforms to create a legacy of enhancing our environment and leaving the natural world in a better state for future generations. We are continuing to consider how best to achieve that through the ongoing detailed design of these reforms, but I am interested in wild belts, as I know my hon. Friend is. We are already bringing forward a raft of changes to support nature’s recovery, including introducing mandatory net gain for biodiversity through the Environment Bill and requiring tree-lined streets in all new developments—something that we are increasingly seeing in new housing across the country.