 In a bid to outlaw the practice known as garden grabbing, the Planning Minister of UK removed gardens from the lists of brownfield sites category in order to discourage people from converting green spaces into houses and factories. The law will give the local authorities the power to reject unwanted developments if the local people object.The move comes amid concerns that more and more gardens in the city, classified as brownfield sites, (which equates them to the status of ex-factory and defunct land) were being used for building. Campaigners have been trying for years to get the practice banned as it results in the loss of vital green space in towns, affects living standards and increases population density. The housing density targets, which were instituted by the Labour Party to specify a certain percentage of development of floorspace for every hectare of land, were scrapped by the announcement. The British Property Federation has welcomed the move. Experts say that in wake of this move, the only remaining alternative is the recycling of employment land which is already in short supply in many areas of housing need. |
