The National Trust’s newly-minted policy of buying greenbelt land to prevent housing development is in tatters after it emerged that it has already sold off greenbelt land for housing, writes Stephen Hoare. On November 7, as Trust chairman Sir William Proby announced the £1 million purchase of land on the Divis and Black Mountain, protecting Belfast from encroaching development, Britain’s oldest environmental organisation, the Open Spaces Society, blew the whistle on the NT’s deal with a West Country developer. <br><br>In 2001 Bournemouth based housebuilder Capital Developments bought 45 acres of farmland at Coleshill, Dorset from the National Trust. Acquired for £310,250 at auction, the site has a potential development value of £20 million if planning permission is granted for 500 homes. The land’s greenbelt designation comes up for review in 2011 as part of the East Dorset district council local area plan. Capital Developments’ chief executive Amir Sadeh is optimistic permission will be granted. <br><br>He commented: “We didn’t buy the land to farm it. I’m confident that we will see some form of development at some point in the future.” But the 45 acres of what was formerly part of the Kingston Lacey estate is a buffer between the villages …