Lords inquiry on new towns and expanded settlements to hold its first evidence session

On Tuesday, April 22, the House of Lords Built Environment Committee will hold its first evidence session for its new inquiry on new towns and expanded settlements.

At 10.45am the committee will hear from:

• Tony Travers, Professor in Practice and Associate Dean, LSE School of Public Policy
• Dr Susan Priest, Chief Executive, Folkestone & Hythe District Council, District Council's Network
• Stephen Kelly, Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development, Greater Cambridge Shared Planning.

This session, which is open to the public, will be held in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords and streamed live on Parliament TV.  

Topic likely to be covered in this session include:

• Who should lead the development and delivery of new towns and expanded settlements.
• Whether local authorities should be accountable for the success or failure of new towns and expanded settlements in their area.
• Opportunities and challenges associated with developing new towns across multiple local authorities.
• Potential impact of the current under-resourcing of local authority planning departments on the delivery of new towns and expanded settlements.
• Whether the measures to support local authority planning departments announced so far are sufficient to ensure the effective delivery of new towns and expanded settlements.
• How new settlements can be integrated into existing local communities.

Last month the committee published a call for evidence.