Dear Supporters URGENT ACTION NEEDED! PLEASE HELP TO SAVE GREEN BELT ALL OVER THE UK! Right now, the Prime Minister and Chancellor are considering whether to release Green Belt land for housing as a measure to be included in the upcoming Autumn Budget. We know that releasing Green Belt land will not solve the housing crisis; will lead to unnecessary loss of countryside; and will add a minimum of 1 million new car journeys every week into London's Green Belt. Please take a few minutes to email your MP before November 22. You can find contact information for your MP at this site: http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/ Suggested letter: Dear [Your MP's name], I am writing because I am deeply concerned about the Chancellor’s proposed release of Green Belt land for housing in the upcoming Autumn Budget. I am pleased the government is taking action on the housing crisis, but this will not alleviate the problem and needless countryside will be lost. Please can you raise this concern in writing, as soon as possible, with both the Chancellor and the Prime Minister who stated in Parliament that “the Green Belt must be protected.” It is a false belief that releasing Green Belt land will tackle the housing crisis, as the crisis is one of affordability, not simply land availability. The research by CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) showed that since 2009 only 16% of houses built on Green Belt outside of local plans were classed as affordable, and nearly three-quarters of the housing proposed on land to be released from the Green Belt will be unaffordable for most people living in the local area. Yet more Green Belt is being released, with 425,000 houses planned as of July - the biggest year-on-year increase in building proposed on the Green Belt for two decades. If the government is truly committed to tackling the affordable housing crisis, the Autumn Budget could include much more effective measures: 1] Much firmer action on developers who are failing to build what communities need. The use of viability assessments by developers to undercut their affordable housing requirements must be stopped. 2] Incentives and enforcement on slow build out rates. To ensure developers’ existing commitments are met before further land is released. 3] The untapped possibilities of brownfield sites could be invested in. Suitable Brownfield land has the potential to deliver over a million homes and brownfield sites are proven to be developed on average six months faster than other sites. Why not build there first? At the heart of these solutions is a firm and enforced commitment to putting community interests at the center of government policy, protecting the countryside in the process. Sincerely [Your name and address] Our specific campaign to save the Enfield Road fields continues as the London Borough of Enfield goes through its Local Plan revision process. We’ll be back in touch when we have news. In the meantime, please ask others to sign our petition. Thank you for your support. Together we are stronger! Kind Regards Ian D’Souza Enfield RoadWatch E: enfieldroadwatch@gmail.com W: www.enfieldroadwatch.co.uk Twitter: @Save_Green_Belt FB: www.facebook.com/enfieldroadwatch