PLANS to build thousands of homes on rural Green Belt land around Stevenage have been scrapped, delighting countryside campaigners across Hertfordshire.

Stevenage Borough Council, which had been in favour of development to the west and north of the town, has decided to stop working on the scheme in response to the new government's more relaxed attitude to housing targets.

Kevin FitzGerald of CPRE Hertfordshire said: "We are delighted that the ill-conceived proposals to build thousands of homes in the Green Belt around Stevenage have been shelved.

"This is a direct consequence of the new government’s announcement that regional spatial strategies like the East of England Plan will be abolished.

“We have been campaigning for years against proposals such as this to build in the Green Belt rather than use previously-developed land, bring the thousands of empty properties into use and redevelop rundown areas at higher densities.

"Now we have a government that is listening and a borough council that will have to listen to what people actually want.”