South and West Yorkshire Green Belt
The South and West Yorkshire Green Belt is a green belt environmental and planning policy that regulates the rural space within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It is contained within the counties of South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, and Derbyshire. Essentially, its primary function is to more rigorously manage development around the cities, towns and villages in the large West Yorkshire Urban Area, the Sheffield urban area, and surrounding towns of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, as well as other nearby locations, in order to discourage urban sprawl and further convergence  between these. It is managed by local planning authorities on guidance from central government. Geography. Land area total of the green belt is (1.9% of the total land area of England (2010). The vast coverage is within the South and West Yorkshire counties, with extensions towards Harrogate and Knaresborough in the south of the North Yorkshire county, and Chesterfield in north eastern Derbyshire. The South and West Yorkshire Green Belt is contiguous with the North West Green Belt along the Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire county boundary, creating a continuous band of protected area through to the English western coastline  by the River Mersey and Irish Sea. The City of York Green Belt is also a few miles to the north east. The Peak District National Park lies between the green belt and the Stoke-on-Trent Green Belt to the southwest, while Nottingham's green belt is to the south. As the green belt lies across several counties, responsibility and co-ordination rests with the many local district councils whose land covers the belt, as these are the local planning government bodies.