The Bexley Local Plan, adopted in 2023, designates 18% of the borough as Metropolitan Green Belt, some 1,110 hectares of land. This designation serves the vital function of preventing unchecked urban sprawl and the merging of towns, as well as protecting the character of historic towns for local residents and visitors.  It does this by prohibiting inappropriate development, in accordance with government guidelines.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out in Chapter 13 Protecting Green Belt land considerations for proposals affecting the Green Belt (paragraphs 153 to 160) and introduces the assumption that development on ‘grey belt land’ may not be inappropriate in certain circumstances.

The government requires Green Belt authorities to apply this approach.  As a result, its advice on the role of the Green Belt in the planning system sets out a process for local planning authorities assessing Green Belt to identify, where necessary, whether land is grey belt for the purpose of considering applications on Green Belt land.

In order to determine whether areas of Bexley’s Green Belt are grey belt land for decision making purposes, the Council has applied the guidance and commenced its review of Bexley’s Green Belt with an assessment to identify grey belt land or provisional grey belt land where the application of the policies relating to areas or assets in footnote 7 of the NPPF may apply.

The assessment found that 84% of Bexley’s Green Belt strongly contributes to at least one of the purposes: preventing urban sprawl, preserving the setting of historic towns, and preventing the merger of towns.  The parcels of land identified as provisional grey belt are predominantly sites with existing development, including Queen Mary’s Hospital, housing, businesses and schools on the edges of the Green Belt.

Map of identified grey belt land and provisional grey belt land

This land is shown in the map below. For applications in areas provisionally identified as grey belt land, planning policies for footnote 7 areas or assets will be applied to specific development proposals. If it is determined that there are strong reasons for refusing or restricting development, the land will not be considered to constitute grey belt for this development proposal. If strong reasons are not found the application will be assessed in the context of paragraphs 155 to 159 of the NPPF.

View the Bexley Green Belt Map

Open Government Licence and Ordnance Survey Copyright

London Borough of Bexley publishes this information under the Open Government Licence. You are permitted to use and re-use the data obtained. However, it is recommended that you are familiar with the terms of the licence prior to use or re-use. The map and the GeoX, GeoY and UPRN data is based upon Ordnance Survey material with the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of the Controller of His Majesty's Stationery Office, Crown copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings (Bexley Council) (AC0000806945) (2026).  If you wish to use this data, you should contact Ordnance Survey for its permission.