CPRE welcomes Keir Starmer’s pledge to
‘build a new Britain’ by prioritising brownfield sites for
development. This brownfield-first approach has the potential to
provide genuinely affordable housing for millions of people
without damaging the countryside around towns and cities which is
crucial for the wellbeing of millions of people and sacrificing
rural communities.
In his speech today to the Labour
Party Conference, Starmer summoned the housebuilding ambition of
the postwar Labour government, the same government that
introduced the Green Belt around our largest towns and cities and launched National
Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Atlee
administration also understood the value of a plan-led approach
to land-use decisions creating the planning system we largely
still use today. Today’s Labour party should not forget this and
must commit to protecting this invaluable
legacy.
CPRE Chief Executive Roger Mortlock
said: “There is lots to welcome
in Labour’s brownfield-first approach and densification of our
towns and cities. The Labour Leader is right to
highlight that un-adopted Local Plans are leading to
speculative, unsustainable development which are ‘potholing’ the
Green Belt and our countryside.
“Brownfield land can provide room for 1.2 million new homes
and before we start thinking about a new generation of New Towns,
we need to make sure we’ve exhausted the un-tapped potential of
brownfield land.
“The Green Belt will be critical to
deliver solutions to the nature and climate crisis. While
sustainable development on brownfield land in the Green Belt can
be part of the solution, we challenge the idea that ‘grey’
belt land should include areas of scrubland that should be
restored to enhance nature support natural solutions to the
climate crisis.
“Alongside these announcements, we
need to match the ambition of the post war Labour Government in
protecting our countryside and restoring
nature.”
