Farming on the edge: new insights into farming in the urban fringe

There are multiple demands on England’s urban fringe, and land use within it is highly contested. In this context, farms can struggle to compete. The new report by CPRE argues that greater support for farming in the urban fringe is a key part of making best use of this land in our increasingly urgent context of mitigating and adapting to climate change, restoring nature, improving public health and feeding people.

The urban fringe debate focuses on the Green Belt – land protected in planning law and policy, with the aims of preventing urban sprawl and keeping land around towns and cities permanently ‘open’ or free of built development. The Green Belt is highly contested, and its integrity and purposes are under threat as it is ‘nibbled away’ bit by bit for individual developments. Recent changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) introduced in December 2024 raise questions as to whether working farms within the Green Belt could be redefined as ‘grey belt’, thereby increasing the possibility of them being developed for housing. CPRE has previously reported extensively about development of Green Belt. The wider countryside and nature NGO movement has called for a long-term strategic vision for the Green Belt that would maximise its potential to solve complex problems for people, nature and climate, including contributing to a secure food supply.

The report makes the case for the relevance and value of farming on the urban fringe as a key part of this vision for maximising the potential of the Green Belt and other areas of the urban fringe and making best use of our finite land supply.

Read Farming on the edge