The Nottingham and Derby Green Belt is a green belt environmental and planning policy for the cities of Derby and Nottingham in the East Midlands region of England. It includes designated parts of several districts in the surrounding counties of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Management is mainly performed by the local planning authority (a district council in many cases) on guidance from central government.
The fundamental functions for the belt are to prevent urban sprawl and the merging of the outlying areas surrounding the two cities by restricting development, in order to preserve the countryside; protect the environment from inappropriate urban growth; and maintain the individuality of settlements. While this is an overall definition provided by central government, local councils then refine the extents and can review these as required. [1]
The belt avoids major areas of population, thereby granting larger villages and towns more leeway with development within the confines of their boundaries. It however 'washes' over smaller settlements and hamlets, these smaller locales thus given very little scope for expansion except in exceptional cases, with any infrastructure plans being put to greater public scrutiny and stricter controls more likely to be levied on any permitted work. [1]
Land area taken up by the belt is 60,700 hectares (607 km2; 234 sq mi) as of 2017. [2] The belt completely overlaps the Nottingham built-up area as well as beyond. It is contained within these districts, and encloses the following local settlements:
| Derbyshire | Nottinghamshire |
Along with the above, small portions of green belt exist within both cities on their rural fringes.
The Bolsover, Mansfield and North West Leicestershire districts border the belt, but do not contain any part of it.
The Green Belt was first considered in Derbyshire in 1955 for the immediate region between the cities (South East Derbyshire Green Belt). It took several years to define the boundaries to some accuracy after local and government consultation. It was adopted in April 1983 by central government, with a more specific local plan being adopted from September 1994. [1] [4]
A matching 'Nottinghamshire Sketch Plan Green Belt' was first planned in Nottinghamshire from 1956, again taking several years to be fully realised, before being formally approved by government in July 1980, and locally in June 1989. [10] [11]
Nottinghamshire is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county borders South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Nottingham (323,632).
Ashfield is a local government district in Nottinghamshire, England. The council is based in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, but the largest town is neighbouring Sutton-in-Ashfield. The district also contains the town of Hucknall and a few villages. The district is mostly urban, with some of its settlements forming parts of both the Nottingham and Mansfield Urban Areas.
Broxtowe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies immediately west of the city of Nottingham, and most of the built-up areas of the borough form part of the Nottingham Urban Area. The council is based in Beeston and the borough also includes the towns of Eastwood, Kimberley and Stapleford and surrounding villages and rural areas.
Rushcliffe is a local government district with borough status in south Nottinghamshire, England. Its council is based in West Bridgford. The borough also includes the towns of Bingham and Cotgrave as well as numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Some of the built-up areas in the north-west of the borough, including West Bridgford, form part of the Nottingham Urban Area.
Gedling is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. The council is based in Arnold. The borough also includes Carlton along with villages and rural areas to the north-east of Nottingham. The main built-up part of the borough around Arnold and Carlton forms part of the Nottingham Urban Area.
Carlton is a town in the Borough of Gedling, Nottinghamshire, England. It is to the east of Nottingham. The population at the 2011 Census was 6,881. It was an urban district until 1974, whose wards had an estimated population of 48,416 in 2015. Owing to the growth of residential, commercial and industrial in the wider Gedling Borough, City of Nottingham, Borough of Broxtowe, Rushcliffe and Ashfield District, as well as the Amber Valley and Borough of Erewash in Derbyshire which have become quite urban around Nottingham, Carlton and Gedling, as well as Netherfield form a contiguous urban area.
The Nottingham Built-up Area (BUA), Nottingham Urban Area, or Greater Nottingham is an area of land defined by the Office for National Statistics as which is built upon, with nearby areas linked if within 200 metres. It consists of the city of Nottingham and the adjoining urban areas of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, in the East Midlands of England. It had a total population of 729,977 at the time of the 2011 census. This was an increase of almost 10% since the 2001 census recorded population of 666,358, due to population increases, reductions and several new sub-divisions.
Rushcliffe is a constituency in Nottinghamshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2019 by Ruth Edwards, a Conservative.
Sherwood is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Mark Spencer, a Conservative. The constituency's name is common with Sherwood Forest which is in the area.
Broxtowe is a parliamentary constituency in Nottinghamshire, England, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Darren Henry, a Conservative.
Basford was a rural district close to Nottingham, England, from 1894 to 1974. The district consisted of two detached parts, to the north and south of Nottingham. It was created under the Local Government Act 1894 based on the existing Basford rural sanitary district.
Nottinghamshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the shire county of Nottinghamshire and the unitary authority of Nottingham in the East Midlands area of England. The area has a population of just over 1 million.
Gedling is a village and former civil parish which gives its name to the larger Borough of Gedling in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies 4 miles (6.4 km) north-east of Nottingham city centre. The parish was abolished in 1935 and absorbed into the urban district of Carlton, which in turn was abolished in 1974 on the creation of borough of Gedling. The population of the Gedling ward at the 2011 census was 6,817 and 111,787 for the district. Gedling was recorded in the Domesday Book and is still a distinct settlement, although residential, commercial and industrial growth in the wider borough of Gedling and the neighbouring city of Nottingham, boroughs of Broxtowe and Rushcliffe and district of Ashfield means it can be difficult to distinguish the village of Gedling from the nearby town of Carlton, with which it has become contiguous.
Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. It consists of 66 county councillors, elected from 56 electoral divisions every four years. The most recent election was held in 2021.
Elections to Nottinghamshire County Council took place on 4 June 2009, having been delayed from 7 May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament.
Healthcare in Nottinghamshire was, until July 2022, the responsibility of six clinical commissioning groups, covering Nottingham City, Nottingham North & East, Mansfield and Ashfield, Newark and Sherwood, Rushcliffe, and Nottingham West. They planned to merge in April 2020.
The Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership is one of 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships set up by Government to drive economic development in England.
The East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) is a combined county authority in England. Despite its name, the authority does not cover the six counties of the East Midlands region, but only Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
