The Government has changed the rules. Here's exactly what it means for Weston Big Wood.

You signed to save a wood. This update is about a rule change made in Whitehall on 17 August, and about the one thing we now need you to do.

What happened:

When we started this, we told you the "grey belt" label had been applied to land it was never meant to cover: long-established pasture beside a Site of Special Scientific Interest and ancient woodland. The rules contained a safeguard. Land wasn't supposed to be treated as grey belt where the protections for places like SSSIs and ancient woodland gave a strong reason to refuse or restrict building.

On 17 August the Government published its revised National Planning Policy Framework, and that safeguard has been removed from the grey belt definition.

We want to be precise here, because precision is what this campaign runs on. Other protections for SSSIs and ancient woodland still exist. What has gone is the requirement to ask that question at the moment land is classified as grey belt in the first place — which is the exact step that was never taken at Tower Farm or Black Rock.

It was done against the Government's own consultation. On the question covering this change, 996 people responded and 59% opposed it, 53% of them strongly. The Government went ahead anyway, saying it is "satisfied that separate policy protection for footnote 7 areas remain in place."

What it means here:

Our case survives, and it survives in exactly one place. The North Somerset Local Plan is being examined against the older December 2024 rules, where the safeguard still stands. The hearings in November are the one opportunity to test the grey belt label at Tower Farm and Black Rock with that safeguard in force. But once the plan is adopted, that door closes for good. So the local fight is unchanged, and the deadline is real.

What it means everywhere else:

From 17 August, every planning application in England is decided under rules without that safeguard. Any open field beside any protected site can now be assessed without that question having to be asked.

Which is why the petition to Parliament now matters more than anything else we are doing.

It asks the Government to clarify how grey belt policy applies to land adjoining SSSIs, ancient woodland and other nationally protected sites, and to issue guidance so the rule is applied consistently. At 10,000 signatures, the Government must respond in writing, on the record. And that written answer can be put in front of the very Inspectors examining our plan in November.

✍️ Sign the petition to Parliament

Three things to know before you click. You must be a British citizen or UK resident. Parliament emails you a confirmation link and your signature does not count until you click it, so check your inbox and your spam folder. And it's one signature per person, so pass it round the household.

Then send it to anyone you know anywhere in England. They don't need to have heard of Weston Big Wood. If there's a wood, a heath or a nature reserve near them with open fields beside it, this is now their question too. The petition closes on 12 February 2027.

The bigger picture:

The Government has committed to protecting 30% of England's land for nature by 2030. But only around 7% currently qualifies, and an SSSI only counts once it is in favourable or recovering condition. Weston Big Wood is neither — ash dieback has hit it hard, and what it needs is less pressure at its edges, not more. Recovering it is exactly the work that commitment requires. Putting 400 homes against one side and around 100 on the other points the other way.

One thing we want to be clear about:

We are not against housing. But, on North Somerset Council's own figures, their plan already meets its housing requirement without these two sites. We are asking for two allocations to come out of a plan that does not need them.

Nearly 7000 of you have signed here in Portishead, and that number matters — in November, the strength of local feeling is evidence in itself. Please keep passing it round the town.

But if you do one thing today, make it the petition to Parliament. We started this to save one wood. What we found is a question the whole country now needs answered, and the window for asking it is open right now.

Thank you, as ever, for sticking with us. Please follow this campaign on Facebook.

Tom and Susan
Save Weston Big Wood — Portishead residents

PS: There will be Saturday drop-ins outside Somerset Hall between 10:00 and 11:00; please come and say 'hi'.