Mr Smith emphasized the importance of protecting open countryside and green belt areas, highlighting the economic benefits they provide for food production and water management. He cited examples in his constituency where development on flood-prone sites led to flooding issues. Mr Smith also called for greater consideration of food production in planning decisions and consistency within the Planning Inspectorate. Emphasized the importance of food production and invited to join a meeting to discuss national planning policy framework issues in detail.

The government's approach to brownfield sites risks undermining the protection of green belts by allowing developers to bypass important environmental safeguards.

The MP supports the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, highlighting its role in empowering local leaders to regenerate their areas. He commends the Government's brownfield development programme with £1.8 billion allocated, including funding for Bracknell Forest Council to unlock smaller brownfield sites. The MP is concerned about preserving residents' quality of life, especially in built-up constituencies like Bracknell, which has 41% of its land developed. He argues against building on agricultural and green-belt land, stressing the importance of open spaces for the local population. Supported the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill for regenerating high streets and communities. Highlighted the importance of local plans to quality of life.

Jim Shannon highlighted the importance of utilising brownfield land in his constituency, noting that it had been costly for developers to remediate contaminated sites. He stressed the need for a balance between housing development and environmental protection, mentioning the impact of the Northern Ireland protocol on construction costs. Shannon also emphasised the role of local communities in planning processes. Recalled a visit to Northern Ireland's Mourne mountains, highlighting similar challenges faced by both regions.

Mr. Trickett highlighted the housing crisis in his rural constituency, emphasizing the importance of preserving green belt land to maintain local identity and prevent ribbon development. He pointed out that brownfield sites are often polluted and more challenging to develop than greenbelt areas. Mr. Trickett raised concerns about current plans threatening three villages with potential developments and questioned the impartiality of planning inspectors applying outdated rules. Additionally, he stressed the ecological importance of protecting species in undisturbed habitats and criticized the lack of mandatory ecological impact analysis before development approval. He intervened to ask Theresa Villiers about whether the houses built on green belt land were affordable for local residents, highlighting that this issue adds to the concern over losing green belt areas. He supported the protection of green belt land in Wirral West, highlighting local residents' opposition to development on it. He stated that sufficient brownfield land exists within urban areas to meet housing and employment needs without altering green belt boundaries. Discussed biodiversity and rare species on proposed development sites. Highlighted civil war history of his constituency, emphasizing similar challenges across the nation.

I campaigned to protect swathes of the green belt from a motorway service station and now urge the government to ensure that brownfield land is developed first. There are plans for 6,000 houses in Erewash, most on the green belt, which would harm local communities. Empty retail sites offer opportunities for conversion into residential properties instead of building on green-belt land. Discussed her long record of campaigning and requested a meeting with the Minister to assist her campaign.

She emphasized the importance of protecting green belt land for health, wellbeing, and climate change mitigation. She noted that CPRE reported over half a million homes could be built on brownfield sites but highlighted the lack of development on such sites despite high demand for affordable housing. Greenwood questioned whether the government is doing enough to help local authorities make brownfield sites viable for housing and asked if an assessment has been made of how much remediation is necessary for unused brownfield sites. Talked about brownfield remediation and requested more details on the review of the brownfield land planning system.

Matthew Pennycook intervened to question the use of the figure '1.2 million' as an annual target for housing development, clarifying that it represented total existing capacity rather than a yearly goal. Matthew Pennycook welcomed the new Minister to her position, praising previous efforts to prioritize brownfield development. He highlighted historical government initiatives from various administrations since 1995 that aimed to encourage brownfield development over greenfield sites. However, he criticized current government policies for failing to adequately support brownfield projects due to a reluctance to reform biased spending rules, unwillingness to intervene in development barriers, and refusal to confront reasons why greenfield development is more attractive to private developers.

I am concerned about the inconsistency between different local planning authorities in determining which land is suitable for development and what measures should be taken to protect it. There needs to be a consistent approach.

She expressed concern over the pressures on green belt land and the risk that development proposals would be approved to meet centrally set housebuilding targets. She welcomed concessions in the consultation but stressed the importance of detailed implementation guidelines for new policies like 'brownfield first' and the clarity needed around design codes and national development management policies. Worked to rebalance the planning system through new clause 21. Requested a detailed meeting with the Minister to discuss issues in depth.