Campaigners are calling for a green belt to be created around Norwich, to protect the surrounding countryside from being saturated with thousands of new homes.
They claim much-needed green spaces, crucial for the environment and people's health, are at risk of disappearing because of a lack of protection.
However, others argue that adding new restrictions on development could harm the region's economy and worsen the housing crisis, which has seen many locals struggle to find affordable homes.
The green belt is land given special designation to protect it from development. There is currently no green belt land in Norfolk.
The local branch of the countryside charity the Campaign to Protect Rural England has launched a new bid to change this.
They want large swathes of land, including near the southern bypass and along the A1151, Wroxham Road, B1150, Coltishall Road, and A1067, Fakenham Road to be given extra protection.
The charity previously put forward proposals in 2018 for 'green wedges' radiating out from the city, during consultation over the Greater Norwich Local Plan - a blueprint for where almost 50,000 homes and jobs would be created by 2038.
But council bosses said they were not convinced a green belt for Norwich was justifiable.
However, with the Greater Norwich Growth Board - made up of representatives from Norfolk, Norwich, Broadland and South Norfolk Councils - asking people to take part in consultation over green spaces in and around Norwich, the charity said fresh consideration should be given to its idea.
Michael Rayner, planning campaigns consultant for CPRE Norfolk, said: "CPRE Norfolk fully supports increasing the provision of publicly accessible green spaces within the Greater Norwich area, particularly where they are part of a joined-up masterplan which ensures improvements for biodiversity, wildlife and habitats, as well as improving sustainable transport options for people.
"The pandemic has also shown just how important readily accessible green space is to the physical and mental well-being of residents.
"The surest way to secure this for present and future generations is through providing a green belt for Norwich, rather than the current proposals."
Chris Dady, chairman of CPRE Norfolk, welcomed the latest consultation and said there were a number of good examples where green spaces are looked after by committed community groups, such as Train Wood and Kett's Heights.
But he said the overall approach of council leaders was too piecemeal - and that precious time had already been lost to protect green spaces.
He said: "The proposal was to include the corridors linking central Norwich to the outer areas which would enable routes for cyclists and walkers in and out of Norwich, and at the same time provide wildlife corridors.
"We suggested these corridors could be given long-term protection under green belt legislation, allowed for in the Nation Planning Policy Framework.
"These corridors could have been supplemented by connecting routes, hence providing Greater Norwich with a network, rather than being piecemeal as at present.
"Many opportunities have already been lost, and many more areas are under threat.
"Frustratingly, the time to produce and implement a strategy is during the development of each Local Plan, and this opportunity has been missed for at least five years until the plan's next iteration."
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Council leaders say the Greater Norwich Growth Board's new Green Infrastructure Strategy will bring a fresh approach to managing green spaces and urged members of the public to have their say.
The consultation, at norfolk.citizenspace.com/environment-transport-and-development/483e9703, runs until Wednesday, June 21.
Norfolk County Council leader Kay Mason Billig, a member of the Greater Norwich Growth Board, said: "High-quality green spaces are important to so many aspects of our daily lives.
"The Covid-19 pandemic showed us time spent outside in nature is an essential part of physical and mental well-being, and making sure wildlife is given space to thrive will help protect the area against the effects of a changing climate.
"Residents’ feedback is essential in making sure we can all make the most of our beautiful parks, public footpaths, and cycleways now and in the future."
People taking part will be entered into a prize draw to win an annual family membership pass for the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.
What is the green belt?
Government Green Belt policy was established in 1955 primarily to stop urban sprawl.
It does not forbid development but aims to preserve the character of historic towns and assist urban regeneration.
England had around 6,324 square miles of Green Belt land at the end of March 2022, covering 12.6pc of the country's land area.
It is clustered around 15 urban cores, the largest of which are London, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.
Cambridge is the city closest to Norwich which does have a green belt.
However, there has been criticism that green belts can inflate house prices within the cities they surround.
And think tanks such as the Adam Smith Institute and the Institute of Economic Affairs have argued the release of at least some Green Belt land could help with the housing crisis.
ANALYSIS: GREEN OR GROWTH?
We prize our beautiful countryside so highly here in Norfolk, so it is little wonder that there is often tension over the need for new housing and the desire to protect what makes the county so special.
Debate over where homes should (and should not) be built has gone on for years, and will continue to rage in the years ahead, as more properties are needed for the county's swelling population.
Countryside charity CPRE Norfolk has long called for the designation of a green belt around Norwich to protect green spaces from being swamped with housing.
When the Greater Norwich Local Plan - a blueprint for where nearly 50,000 homes could be built in Norwich, Broadland and south Norfolk by 2038 - was being formulated, the charity came up with proposals for 'green wedges'.
That idea was for protected areas radiating out from the city, following existing green corridors, such as river valleys, railway lines and major footpaths and cycleways.
But it was not taken up by policymakers and they were not worked into the local plan, which, all these years later, is still going through the process of being adopted.
Council leaders are, however, appealing for help from the public in putting together a new Green Infrastructure Strategy, which will look at how green spaces are provided and managed in Norwich, Broadland and south Norfolk.
And, to tie in with the opening of consultation around that strategy, the CPRE has made a fresh call for the green belt idea to be considered.
It's an interesting concept. There is widespread agreement that green spaces are crucial to the environment and to our health and well-being.
Instinctively, the majority of us want to protect green spaces. It clearly makes sense to build, where possible, on brownfield sites, rather than on countryside.
However, there are those who argue that limiting how many houses can be built within cities such as Norwich will have the effect of hiking prices of those homes which can be built.
That is something which does need to be considered in this debate. But it is a debate well worth having.
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