Urgently help protect greenfield land until the next NPPF is adopted

217
signatures
openMinistry of Housing, Communities & Local Governmentby James AustinOpened 7 October 2026

Background

We want the Government to bring in emergency legislation to allow local planning authorities to block greenfield developments, with no appeal allowed, until the next National Planning Policy Framework is promulgated.

Additional details

The last census revealed that Britain has around 1.5 million unoccupied properties; there is also capacity for 1.54 million more homes on brownfield land, and at least 220,000 planning permissions still unbuilt. Moreover, green spaces around motorway junctions are increasingly targeted for B2/B8 commercial and industrial parks, despite empty warehouses in towns and cities. We believe this development growth is harming food security, climate resilience and mental wellbeing. The NFU also reports reduced UK food-production capacity while food imports have risen 70% in 30 years – we believe losing more greenfield areas to development will only make this worse.

Where it’s popular

Constituencies with the most signatures on this petition.

Source: UK Government & Parliament Petitions service. Petition ID: 781519.