Green belt status slows land use change
Land use in this area changed rapidly until the Green Belt Act came into force and imposed strict limitations on future development. New building has only been allowed when deemed beneficial for the community or in the national interest. The latter reason justified the construction of the M25 through green belt land in the rural-urban fringe and the widening of major roads. However, developers have found it very difficult to get planning permission for a change in land use. Land in this area commands around £2500 an acre for farming but would be worth as much as £500,000 an acre if released for housing.

Even existing land uses find it very difficult to develop their own sites. Chessington World of Adventures has not been allowed to build above the tree line and often has to completely screen new attractions.

While there are many positive aspects to land use in fringe areas there are also many concerns regarding land use too (Figure 10). Illegal fly-tipping is often a significant problem because of the proximity of so much building work going on in the city.

Figure 9 Issues in the rural-urban fringe.

Land use change: case study of the Epsom Hospital Cluster

However, at times, significant new developments have been allowed. One of the most recent has been new housing development (Figure 11) on the old site of the Epsom Hospital Cluster (Figures 5 and 6). The Hospital Cluster encompasses four former NHS establishments and their grounds within the green belt to the west and northwest of Epsom. The borough of Epsom and Ewell straddles both the continuous built-up area and the rural-urban fringe. The green belt makes up 42 per cent of the land area of the borough.

Under the ‘Care in the Community’ policy for the mentally ill, which began in the late 1980s, the cluster of Victorian hospitals, like many others around the country, were gradually closed down. By the late 1990s most of this area was derelict and the Epsom and Ewell council had to come to a difficult decision:

• either allow the building to deteriorate (to maintain them as empty buildings would have been extremely expensive)
• or allow new housing development.

The Epsom and Ewell council opted for the latter because:

• Government guidance and the Surrey Structure Plan (the borough of Epsom and Ewell is part of Surrey) recognise the exceptional circumstances within the green belt created by large building complexes which are no longer required for their original use
• central government has been pressurising county councils to speed up the release of land for development where possible because of the shortage of housing nationally
• there was general public support for the re-use of the hospital sites following closure providing certain criteria were met.

In December 1997 the Borough Council granted outline planning permission for the development of about 1500 dwellings and associated facilities although it is now likely that the final outcome will be 1300 new dwellings.

The borough’s objective is to create a distinct new community at the Epsom Hospital Cluster while enhancing the area as a resource for the whole borough. The plan involves:

• clear separation of the new residential areas from the existing built-up area
• formation of highly individual residential areas with a mixture of new buildings and the conversion of existing buildings
• provision of complementary local facilities
• retention of mature garden areas
• provision of a comprehensive range of borough-wide and local recreation and leisure facilities within the open land.

The main adverse consequence has been an increase in traffic volume, particularly in peak periods around Epsom town centre and on major roads into London. Other new housing developments in different locations within this general area have caused similar problems.

The future of this fringe area
The pressures on green belt land remain formidable. A report published in 1995 projected that the number of households in Britain would rise by 4.4 million between 1991 and 2016. Each county in the country was told by central government to find space for a given number of new homes. Every part of the country is under pressure, which is at its most intense in the South East. Other land uses such as leisure and retailing are continually looking for more space. Can the green belt in general and this area of London’s rural-urban fringe in particular resist such intense pressure?

Improving Britain’s rural-urban fringe areas

In early 2003 the chair of the Countryside Agency, Sir Ewan Cameron stated, ‘Now is the time to make major and long-term improvements to the urban-rural fringe. At the moment this countryside is all too often badly planned and badly managed making it unattractive and neglected – it is a wasted asset.’ He identified two key facts illustrating the importance of the urban-rural fringe:

• over half of all day trips to the countryside have a round trip distance of under five miles
• some of the most deprived urban estates are located on the edge of cities.

The Countryside Agency argue that well-managed rural-urban fringes will bring health and social benefits for local communities and attract visitors. At the same time visitors will bring much needed money into the local economy and provide the opportunity for local farmers to re-engage people with the process of food production. A more attractive rural-urban fringe will help to encourage inward investment.