NPPF GB3: Altering existing Green Belt boundaries

GB3: Altering existing Green Belt boundaries 1. Green Belt boundaries should only be altered through the preparation and updating of local plans and where exceptional circumstances are fully evidenced and justified (other than where paragraph 4 of this policy applies). 2. Exceptional circumstances in this context include a local planning authority being unable to meet its identified need for development in full, having examined all other reasonable options for doing so, including: a. Making as much use as possible of suitable previously developed and underutilised land; b. Optimising the density of development in accordance with policy L1; and c. Assessing whether sufficient suitable sites can be identified outside the Green Belt. 3. If a local planning authority wishes to make an exceptional, limited alteration to the defined Green Belt boundary (which might be to accommodate a site inset within the Green Belt) to meet a specific, identified need for a traveller site, it should be specifically allocated in the development plan as a traveller site only. 4. Where a development plan’s spatial strategy has identified suitable land around well- connected stations for development, exceptional circumstances do not need to be demonstrated to justify altering Green Belt boundaries.