GREEN belt policy has been in place for 55 years — but now is the time to look at it again, say a leading property consultants.

A recent survey commissioned by Strutt & Parker has shown that the British public is surprisingly ill-informed about the role that green belts are supposed to perform.

Fewer than a quarter of those questioned knew they were intended to be “buffer zones” around designated towns, however, 64 per cent believed selective development within the Green Belts would lead to the creation of local jobs and 72 per cent of young adults felt local jobs would be created by such development.

Stephen Deakin, of Strutt & Parker, said: “Now is the time to look again at the rigid designations of green belts; we need to ask 21st century questions and look for 21st century answers to a number of specific problems.”

The way green belts are laid out at present means natural development of urban areas becomes artificially distorted. There are areas where a town borders the belt on one side but considerable new development is required by the structure plan.

This means that all the new housing has to be one side of that town and the effect is to make the community “lopsided".

Instead of the town revolving around its existing facilities such as shops, churches, the railway station, health centres, cinemas and the like, many homes will be disproportionately far from them.

Stephen Deakin, who is based at Strutt & Parker's Canterbury office said: “It is also true to say that many areas of the designated green belt are low quality land.

“No-one is suggesting bulldozing ancient deciduous woodland, but there is land which could never be described as picturesque countryside and is of little agricultural use, which was included in the green belt by way of convenience — so that there was a nice clean line on the map. This land could be developed without compromising the spirit of the green belt.”

Last year saw the lowest number of new homes being completed since 1924. The housing stock needs to increase by around 21,000 per year in the medium term.