(Hammersmith) (Lab):...The Campaign to
Protect Rural Englandsays that the
“acid test for the planning reforms is community involvement and
on first reading, it’s still not clear how this will work under a
zoning system.”..
(Wirral West) (Lab):...According to the
CPRE the Government’s proposals give
“no consideration to the importance of undesignated green spaces
near to where people live.”
There is no guarantee on protecting existing green spaces and
green-belt land...
(Colne Valley) (Con):...My constituents and I are
fed up with the wrong houses in the wrong places. The White Paper
should give local people a bigger say in the future of their
communities. I agree with CPRE. Let us create a
planning system that delivers genuinely affordable homes and
protects locally valued green spaces, while boosting trust and
participation in the planning system of the future...
(Coventry South) (Lab):...As the Campaign to
Protect Rural England highlights, these plans contain no
new protections for green-belt land. Instead, they “weaken
protection” of undesignated green spaces in what the
CPRE describes as a “free-for-all for
development”. The president of the Royal Institute of British
Architects has described these plans as “shameful” and said that
it could lead
“to the creation of the next generation of slum housing.”
(Ashford)
(Con):...What is frustrating is that I agree with many of the
things that the Government are trying to do: we need to build
more homes; we need to design them better; we need to take more
account of the countryside, and that includes green fields and
not just green belt; and we need to continue with levelling up.
The instincts are right, but it is the execution that is wrong. I
have stood at that Dispatch Box often enough to know that it is
all very well to hear people around you moaning, it is what
should be done instead—that is an entirely reasonable thought.
The answer for the Minister is that, instead of taking away local
powers, the Government should be looking at the number of
planning permissions given that do not result in houses being
built The Secretary of State has said that it is his ambition to
build 1 million new homes during this Parliament.
CPRE—I should declare an interest as
vice-president of Kent CPRE—has pointed out that
there are about 1 million housing plots with planning permission
in this country. The Secretary of State could achieve his very
laudable ambition without granting a single extra planning
permission in this Parliament...
(Weaver Vale)
(Lab):...I have done a count but it was hard as people were
moving in and out of the Chamber. Fifty or so hon. Members have
spoken very eloquently for their communities, outlining similar
concerns. Over 250,000 supporters of the countryside charity the
Campaign to Protect Rural England argue the
same. We have all had CPRE emails and its
lobbying, along with that of the Royal Town Planning Institute,
the Town and Country Planning Association, the Royal Institute of
British Architects, Civic Voice and many more organisations in
and beyond the housing sector. I ask the Minister on their
behalf, what role does he believe local democracy should have
when it comes to decisions about house building and community
development?
...I would like to hear the Minister’s comments when it
comes to environmental protections in the White Paper. It is not
clear how the Government can reconcile their proposals in the
planning White Paper with their existing commitments in the
Environment Bill—a concern expressed by the CPRE and others...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
