Green fields have always been an easy option for development and that is why Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land designations were created – specifically to protect strategically important pieces of land, halting urban sprawl and providing important amenity for local residents.

• Green Belt: The Green Belt site at Rowden Fields is proposed for a secondary school despite it being protected land; the council proposes to take away the Green Belt designation from the Sanderstead Plantation which could readily be changed to Metropolitan Open Land to protect this ‘site of borough wide importance’ into the future; and three areas of Green Belt – Peartree Farm, Coombe Farm and Coombe Lodge – are earmarked for traveller sites which national policy clearly states is an ‘inappropriate’ development for land designated as Green Belt.
• Metropolitan Open Land: Shirley Oaks and Amenity land at Croydon AFC stadium are designated as Metropolitan Open Land: we can find no suitable justification for their designations to be removed to pave the way for them to be built on.

CPRE London is tracking threats to London’s protected open spaces so that Londoners and our decision makers are aware of the overall effect of loss of green space – in particular green spaces with the highest level of protection. See our map of threats here.  

The Consultation runs until the 18 December 2015. Visit here to view all of the proposals and have your say by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Our full response to Croydon's Local Plan Consultation is at the bottom of the page.