brentwood.gov.uk

This letter is written in support of a representation in respect of a proposed minor alteration to the Green Belt Boundary. A block plan is provided to show the proposed change.

Green Keepers Cottage is a modestly sized two storey 4 bedroom house. It is situated within the small settlement of Ingrave, 1km south-east of Brentwood. It backs onto the houses in The Meadows and is close to Brentwood Road (A128), the main road through Ingrave. To the west and north is Thorndon Country Park, a public area managed by Essex County Council.

The site forms part of the built up area of settlement of Ingrave, at the end of a row of properties alongside Thorndon Gate. The Green Belt boundary does not include the house within the settlement limits.

It is recognised that the Government attaches great importance to Green Belts.

Paragraph 83 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) says Local planning authorities with Green Belts in their area should establish Green Belt boundaries in their Local Plans which set the framework for Green Belt and settlement policy. Once established, Green Belt boundaries should only be altered in exceptional circumstances, through the preparation or review of the Local Plan. At that time, authorities should consider the Green Belt boundaries having regard to their intended permanence in the long term, so that they should be capable of enduring beyond the plan period.

Our case for the minor alteration in this instance is that there is no reason why Green Keepers Cottage should be excluded from what has been determined as the built-up area of Ingrave. The house fronts onto Thorndon Gate and logically forms part of the residential area of the settlement, quite distinct from the parkland to the west and north of the property.

Changing the boundary as suggested would exclude a very small area from the Green Belt, extending to 470 square meters, within which sits Green Keepers Cottage, a two storey detached house. The boundary with Thorndon Park is clearly defined by the side boundary fence to the property and would form a long term defensible Green Belt boundary.

The case is not being made on the grounds that there is potential for further development, but simply that there appears to an anomaly that has excluded Green Keepers Cottage. It is the furthest extent of development along Thorndon Gate, but this is no reason to exclude it from the settlement.