Our Green Belt Is Turning Grey:
New Government planning rules are putting the Green Belt under unprecedented pressure. These changes are driving speculative, piecemeal housing schemes across protected land in around London.
In 2025, ten out of twelve planning appeals in the London Green Belt were approved where sites were identified as Green Belt, according to the London Green Belt Council (click here for the full report). Research by Marrons consultants found that 84% of Green Belt appeals were allowed between February and September 2025, compared with an average of 40% over the last ten years.
The new ‘Grey Belt’ policy undermines two core purposes of Green Belt protection: preventing encroachment into the countryside, and supporting urban regeneration. It effectively rebrands protected land to make development easier.
This is a serious and immediate threat to Oxshott village and its surroundings. The scale of the challenge has grown significantly, but FEDORA will continue to work with others to protect the village from the impact of inappropriate or harmful development.