Asked by Lord Naseby To ask Her Majesty’s Government what
work they have undertaken to plan for another generation of New
Towns. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Communities and Local Government and Wales Office (Lord Bourne of
Aberystwyth) My Lords, our housing White Paper makes it clear
that we need to make the most of the potential for new settlements.
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Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what work they have
undertaken to plan for another generation of New Towns.
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Communities and Local Government and Wales Office (Lord
Bourne of Aberystwyth)
My Lords, our housing White Paper makes it clear that we need
to make the most of the potential for new settlements. We
recognise that well-planned, well-designed new communities
have an important part to play in meeting long-term housing
needs. We are supporting the development of 10 new garden
towns and cities and 14 new garden villages. We have
legislated to enable the creation of locally led new town
development corporations to provide a powerful delivery
option.
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(Con)
Is my noble friend aware that I had the privilege of
representing Northampton for 23 years, one of six
third-generation new towns? All six doubled their populations
and were highly successful. Given the scale of the challenge
on the housing front, has the time not come to find some
other new towns, particularly around the fringes of London,
for example in Bedford, Ashford and Guildford? Is not one of
the principal reasons why development corporations are the
most successful way of building a very large community that
they are much quicker at doing the work, and above all better
at integrating with local communities in a way that no other
bodies have so far succeeded in doing?
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My Lords, my noble friend is certainly well known for his
support of new towns and new villages, and I am well aware of
his great work in Northampton in supporting the expansion of
the town when that was not always popular. He deserves much
credit for doing so. As I say, we are progressing with 10
cities or towns and 14 villages. The aim is ultimately that
there will be housing for 220,000 people in those
communities. My noble friend is absolutely right about the
vehicle of the new town development corporation, which is the
option being pursued in, for example, Ebbsfleet.
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(LD)
My Lords, I should first draw attention to my interests in
this area as set out in the register. I welcome the fact that
on a cross-party basis, but particularly with Ministers, I
have been able to work to bring forward changes to the New
Towns Act to allow developments to be locally led. Can the
Minister give the House any sense of when the regulations may
come forward to allow that? The Government have promised it,
so I hope that they can be brought forward at an early stage.
Does he agree that it is critical, where either new town
corporations or other delivery mechanisms are used, that we
ensure that new settlements are delivered at the highest
quality with a full range of services for a 21st-century
village, not merely a housing estate?
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My Lords, I also acknowledge the great work of the noble Lord
in relation to garden towns and cities. I know that he was
very supportive when we took forward powers in the
Neighbourhood Planning Bill, as it then was, and I thank him
for that. I agree about the importance of the regulations,
which we will be bringing forward. As I say, the development
corporation mechanism is certainly appropriate for some of
the larger towns, as it is for Ebbsfleet, and we anticipate
that others may come forward and use the mechanism. We are
seeing some very successful developments in, for example,
Bicester, north Essex and so on. They may want to use the
mechanism; that is to be discussed and decided.
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(Lab
Co-op)
My Lords, I refer the House to my local government interests
as set out in the register. Can the noble Lord tell the House
what work has been done by the department to ensure that
these developments are self-sustaining with schools, health
facilities, transport links and other infrastructure,
including broadband? In the past we have not always got this
right. For example, people waited many years for a station to
arrive in Basildon.
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My Lords, the noble Lord is right. The wave of new towns
under the last Government—the ecotowns—was very well
intentioned but we have learned from aspects of the
programme. When developing new towns and villages, the
indicators show that we need to pursue infrastructure and
design. Often the money that has been advanced to these
communities is tied in with doing that work, and reports are
often presented on an annual basis to show that that is
happening.
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(Lab)
As I read the statistics, the Department for Transport’s
capital budget has not kept pace with these developments. Can
he assure the House that those capital budgets will be
matched by Department for Transport capital budgets?
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My Lords, the noble Lord is absolutely right about the
importance of infrastructure. For example, £261 million of
infrastructure spending has gone to Ebbsfleet for
development; £19 million, closely related to transport, has
gone to Bicester. Obviously, maintaining those capital
budgets is a key consideration in discussions with other
departments.
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The Lord
My Lords, plans for new towns must include a wide range of
different kinds of housing to enable all people to access
decent, affordable homes. Developers often wish to build
large, four or five-bedroom houses—unsurprisingly, as they
make the most profit—but families, couples and single-person
households need very different kinds of properties. How are
Her Majesty’s Government planning to ensure that a wide range
of housing sizes and tenures will be provided in these new
developments?
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My Lords, the right reverend Prelate brings in the important
element of the necessary range of tenure and types of
property. In garden town and village status applications,
various things are looked at: the value-added aspect, need,
particular aspects of community, green spaces, and design.
All those things are weighed when awarding the status. I
think 51 applications were made for garden villages; 14 were
awarded. Those are the criteria we look at.
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(Lab)
As new towns, by definition, will not be built on brownfield
sites, I urge the Minister, with the government machine, to
constantly put the case for the building needed, because only
12% of the land of England is built on. We are not short of
land; it will have to be what people call the green belt. I
do not think that we as a Government did enough—nor have the
current Government—to propagate the fact that there is more
than enough land for the building needed.
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The noble Lord has a point, though of course it is not always
in the right places. Very often, we have great areas of green
land where it would not be appropriate to put a new town. He
is right about the pressures that exist and the fact that we
often overstate the amount of built-up land, even in the
south of England. That said, we are using brownfield sites,
for example in Ebbsfleet.
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(Con)
How long will it take to complete the Government’s very
welcome but ambitious programme for new towns and villages?
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My noble friend raises an interesting point. As I have
indicated, the target, or perhaps aspiration, is 220,000; I
think that by the time that aspiration is reached, not many
of us in the Chamber will still be here.
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Noble Lords
Oh!
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Well, I hope we will all be here, but we are looking into the
2040s and 2050s, so possibly not.
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