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Midland property leaders have told Insider that some development must take place on Green Belt land, and have called on politicians to revise their views on building on the "sacred spaces".

At Insider’s property breakfast Mark Barrow, strategic director of development at Birmingham City Council, said that some construction in the city would have to take place on Green Belt land. "Let’s be clear about this - these were borders set in 1947, and we need to think about what the city of 100 years from now needs, not the one of 60 years ago," he said.

"Sometimes we’re talking about developing scrubby bits of land that lie between A roads and the M42 but are technically Green Belt. It’s bizarre.”

Barrow told the breakfast, held at 35 Newhall Street, Birmingham, that if all the developments needed up to 2060 went ahead the amount of Britain that was built on would rise by just two per cent to 12 cent.

His views were echoed by Miller Birch chairman Peter Gadsby about development in the East Midlands.

Gadsby said that, although the three cities of Nottingham, Derby and Leicester did not like the idea of growing closer, "these bits of green belt are no longer sacred or make sense".

He added: "There has to be an emphasis that moves away from brownfield: if you want a better infrastructure, with new roads and access, it must, by its nature, be on Green Belt. These are challenging times and we need another look at the issue."

A full report of Insider’s property breakfast will be covered in the January issue of Midlands Business Insider.