Nimby Wastelands Are Holding Britain Back

The British have a habit of venerating relatively recent institutions as if they are ancient traditions that must be preserved at all costs. Outsiders sometimes struggle to understand the reverence that much of the country accords to the taxpayer-funded National Health Service, founded in 1948. Many hold just as tightly to the green belt, buffer zones designed to prevent urban sprawl under a policy that started before World War II and expanded greatly starting in the 1950s. Change is coming, and that’s stirring trepidation.

The Labour government that took office this month has said it will free up lower-quality and “ugly” parts of the green belt for development in an effort to meet a target of adding 1.5 million homes over the next five years. The government wants to build on what it calls “grey belt” — areas that aren’t actually green, such as car parks and disused wasteland. Critics accuse it of planning to “concrete over” England’s green and pleasant land. A YouGov poll this month showed that two-thirds of people oppose the policy, despite having handed Labour a huge parliamentary majority in the July 4 general election.